“For now, it’s time for big political change, it’s time to bring justice back in place,” said Mr. President of the SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance Alexis Tsiprasaddressing the citizens in Nea Moudania, Halkidiki, noting that “Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is in a panic and lies shamelessly.”

Mr. Tsipras arrived in Nea Moudania in the rain, walked along the promenade, talking to sellers and buyers but also with the citizens who welcomed him.

“It doesn’t matter that today is a rainy and foggy day, May 21 will be a glorious dayit will be a sunny day for our country because the Greek people, the vast majority of them, can no longer tolerate this course, this downward spiral of the country,” said the President of SYRIZA and added: “Citizens can no longer tolerate the discredit and deceit by the government which has deprived the middle class, workers, youth of a better life and deceived employees, the self-employed, the middle class, pensioners and targeted the youth and workers.

Mr. Mitsotakis ordered higher wages and incomes, improved jobs and pensions. And what finally happened four years later? What happened to the promises of higher wages and incomes for the middle class that made them the banner of the campaign? Today, the middle class has got the opportunity to live on coupons in the supermarket, on gasoline, on electricity. What jobs have become the best jobs for young people? They made sure that today there is no legal basis for work, as it has always existed in the country. Overtime is not paid, the 8-hour shift is cancelled. Where did the promises to pensioners go? They canceled the 13th pension that SYRIZA had installed because it was a baby, we were told then. But they promised to leave. They didn’t give retrospectives. Pensioners have lost a total of seven billion euros. The worst thing in the country is not discredit, not false promises, but the fact that it has plunged it into a regime of deep corruption and worthlessness. They have distanced Greece from European law.”

Mr. Tsipras responded to the “monstrosity” that the Prime Minister referred to and stressed: “Mr. Mitsotakis described the Progressive Cooperation Government in Greece as monstrous. I want to tell him that if there is a monster to defeat, it is his own government.. Government of illegal surveillance, government of precision, government of corruption. This is the monster that has ruled us all these years.”

As for the prime minister, he said that “in Europe he was taken for granted and now he has no allies”, and in a meeting yesterday with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, he pointed out: “There, Berlin is no longer a close friend and ally of Mitsotakis. Mr. Schäuble no longer exists, and he will not be able to say “no more Schäuble” when we fight to get society back on its feet, to resurrect society. His big problem is that today there are progressive governments and Germany also has a progressive government instead of Schäuble. A progressive government that does not consider the cooperation of progressive forces in Europe monstrous, but considers it realistic and welcomes the prospect of a government that will try to restore Greece’s prestige in the international arena and shake up society and the economy. A progressive government will not only not be a monster, but will be the hope for a better tomorrow for the country, for society, for the Greek people.”

The President of SYRIZA also addressed the “conservative” citizens, who, in his words, “are ashamed of the government, which has nothing to do with the principles of the conservative faction.”

“Those who rule us today it is not a party, it is a family limited company, Mitsotakis SA. This is not a New Democracy,” he said, adding: “Mr. Mitsotakis understands that his time is running out, he panics and takes risks. He goes to the shameless lie that SYRIZA delivered the memos and not New Democracy. His party bankrupted Greece twice, and it was the SYRIZA government that pulled the country out of the memorandums, settled the debt, and left 37 billion in the public treasury to manage itself.”

Mr. Tsipras promised that, if elected, the government would ensure wage increases, price reductions, debt settlement and an honest and efficient state, and referred to the SYRIZA-PS “Justice Everywhere” plan. Analytically:

1. For her salary increasesaid that it will be implemented with a minimum wage of 880 euros and an annual automatic adjustment of indexation, with a three-year unfreeze, with a 10% increase in state salaries that have been increased in 14 years, and for pensioners with a retrospective return and the restoration of 13- and pensions.

2. For price reduction, we are talking about lowering VAT, abolishing excise duty on agricultural oil, lowering excise duty to the lowest level in the European Union, and substantial, effective market controls against speculation. “When we are told that accuracy is imported, we answer them: yes, but the speculation is Greek and has the signature of Mr. Mitsotakis,” he stressed.

3. For debt settlementindicated that this would be done through a plan with a large debt relief and regulation, while focusing on the recently presented SYRIZA-PS first home defense plan, which, as he emphasized, “has the stamp of Lucas Katseli, and this is a plan that will give breath and perspective to the middle class and keep the property in the middle-class property that today has passed to the ravens and funds.”

Regarding the May 21 elections, the President of SYRIZA said: “These elections are the first elections in a country with a justice system: every vote counts equally in the Greek Parliament. However, these are elections that will decide the future of the country. A simple proportional election does not mean an election of indifference or an election with a losing vote, it means that on May 21 the choice everyone makes will be decisive for the future.

We made it clear: firstly, the victory of SYRIZA will give the progressive government a long-term and stable cooperation the next day. An ND victory, if it happens, will lead us to a second and third election, political instability and uncertainty. We also tell the citizens a very simple thing: a victory for SYRIZA will mean a defeat for the ND. There is no other option. Mitsotakis and his policies cannot be defeated if SYRIZA does not win, there is no such scenario mathematically, politically or morally. Let’s keep in mind that our vote will give the prospect of governance the next day, despite the fact that we have a simple proportionality.

We say to the Greek people: Make this defeat even greater, make it possible, on the day after the elections, to form a strong, long-term victorious government with the victory of SYRIZA – PS, which will give perspective, give breath, give vision, give hope.