In his first newspaper interview since resigning from his seat in the Greek Parliament on October 6, 2025, former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras expressed his desire to reconnect with everyday Greeks and return to active politics. Tsipras had previously stepped down as leader of the Syriza party in June 2023.
While he did not explicitly state plans to form a new political party, his comments about staying politically active have fueled speculation about a potential new political movement. Tsipras emphasized that he is not stepping away from political life, despite his resignation from Parliament.
The former PM explained the reasons why he left Syriza, the party that in 2015 formed the first leftist government in the political history of Greece with himself on the helm.
Tsipras said that remaining in Syriza was confining for him, so he left the party in pursuit of more challenging endeavors in Greek politics. He said the “current regime’s practices” are suffocating for himself and millions of people, referring to the ruling New Democracy party. As for the democratic opposition, he claims that it is obviously unable “to open a path to a democratic escape.”
He spoke about his need to approach the Greek people, “the need to talk to the citizens, to listen to them, to walk with them on the path that we will open together. The self-sufficiency and complacency of some self-proclaimed Messiah, who recruits his disciples, is the last thing our country and society need today. Only the action of the many can become the engine of a path towards progress, out of the current toxic quagmire. I want to dedicate my energy to this.”
Greek politicians are all the same
The fact that at this moment the politicians’ popularity in Greece is at an all time low is because, regardless of party and political affiliation, “they are increasingly similar to each other. Because they do not convince that they are more concerned with the collective vision and the common good than with their personal interest and their re-election,” the former PM explains.
Tsipras said that Greek politicians should change and “make a difference, primarily morally, in terms of values, in terms of culture.” In quoting Aristotle, he said that ethos is also needed in politics if one wants to convince people that he or she is different than the other politicians.
Tsipras argues that the entire political system needs renewal, not the Left, or the Right, “which has now lost the trust of the vast majority. However, (renewal) mainly concerns the Left, the progressive faction.” He said that the time is now “for a great, bold, decisive renewal in practices, language, style, ethos, but also in personalities.
The former prime minister urged Greek people to “transform disappointment into action and demand. And this is why, among other things, I chose the insecurity of being among them, away from the parliamentary benches.”
Alexis Tsipras said that the old worn-out practices in politics should disappear; so do the transactions, the existing political background, everything must start anew and this is why he resigned from parliament. “I may have lost my parliamentary privileges, but I am at least free to claim the privilege of walking with the many. I dare not say “as one of them”. But yes, I would like to be with them “as one of them”.”
“A great shock is needed”
“No model of yesterday can function today, without at least the necessary major changes… It is self-deception and wishful thinking to expect something positive from a system that does not want to and cannot change. We need new tools for thinking and action, otherwise we will all get bogged down in a dead end. The citizens – this is the power of change today. Only they, “from the grass roots”, can overturn those “above”. To put their stamp on developments,” The former Greek prime minister stressed.
In the current state of things only a shakedown can turn things around, Tsipras said: “I believe that our country needs a great, decisive shock that I would call a shock of honesty, justice and democracy. To reconnect politics with morality and the political system with citizens. A great leap forward is needed. Institutional, economic, social. A new pride is needed, not in the nationalist sense of the term. The pride of self-respect. The joy of living in a fair, creative country that cares for those left behind, that has a vision for the future”
Tsipras also criticized the current New Democracy government for corruption, Justice manipulation, paralysis of institutions, the provocative support of great wealth at the expense of the social majority, the weakening of the country’s international position. To put an end to that a progressive opposition is needed, but not in its current form.
