Tsipras: Voters must decide if they are 'done with the old'

The crucial question, he noted, was "whether we will finish with the old or let it come back" and whether the "left interlude" plan will be allowed to unfold or whether the left will be given a chance to be judged over time.
Tsipras ruled out cooperation with ND, saying that a modus vivendi can't be found between two political forces that are like the day and the night.
"I serve a political plan; some will try to make SYRIZA a part of the old. The Greek people will not do them this favour and will give SYRIZA the power to continue what was begun in January 2015," he said.
SYRIZA was seeking a strong mandate from the Greek people in the upcoming elections, Tsipras added, when asked what kind of post-election cooperation his party was prepared to contemplate. It was up to the voters to decide whether they want SYRIZA to have an clear majority or cooperate with others, he added, pointing out that SYRIZA had already proved its ability to work with forces that were very different, such as the Independent Greeks (ANEL).
Concerning the "apology" offered to him by ND leader Evangelos Meimarakis during a press conference on Sunday, Tsipras said it would be better if Meimarakis had instead apologised for all the things his party had done in the last 40 years, for its stance during the 2.5 years in the coalition government with PASOK, as well as its stance during the negotiations with the creditors.
In response to other questions on the post-election landscape, he underlined that SYRIZA will not allow others to dictate terms and conditions that made it the same as the old political system and unable to carry out the reforms it wanted.
None of the other parties was fighting to win, he said. They were fighting in order to trap SYRIZA and make it hostage to the old political forces.
He appeared confident that SYRIZA's undecided voters will reach the same conclusions as the elections draw nearer. It was natural that they should now feel confused but the dilemmas will become clear as election day approaches, he predicted, and the "comparisons will inevitably be in SYRIZA's favour."

'The drachma is not the way out of the crisis'

Stressing that an exit from the euro was not the way to end the crisis, Tsipras promised that a SYRIZA government will only follow "the path of tough negotiation through which you succeed."
He said that the agreement that SYRIZA signed with the creditors must be upheld, while defending it as the best so far. Though admitting that its terms were harsh, Tsipras said that it was also the first that created a prospect of an exit from the crisis and questioned whether any of his opponents could have done better, given their anxiousness to sign a deal, no matter what it entailed.
The creditors' promise to discuss debt relief was a key success achieved by SYRIZA's government, he added, opening a path for return to growth and to correct the wrongs of the past through radical reforms.
A correct and rapid implementation of this agreement was the quickest way out of the crisis, alongside a parallel and compensatory programme on which the government was able to negotiate and had referred to at length, he said.

Tsipras: unemployment can't be fixed without growth 'shock'

Speaking about unemployment, Tsipras stressed that this would be impossible to fix without a growth "shock". This meant attracting investments, which required a stable economic environment and especially a stable tax system, he added.
Predicting that things would be difficult for roughly one more year, Tsipras stressed the need for radical reforms to decrease bureaucracy and corruption in order to attract investments, while clarifying that there was no point to 'jobless growth' accompanied by high unemployment.
Referring to the mines at Skouries, he said SYRIZA respected the 2,000-odd miners but that they could not be used as a "shield" or a lever to exert pressure. He said SYRIZA could not be blackmailed and noted that investments were welcome but had to respect the place where they had come to invest, abiding by environmental and other rules, not "loot" the country.

My aim was to restore normalcy to trade relations with Russia

"I did not go to Russia to ask for money and you can see this in the joint statements I made in Moscow and St. Petersburg," Tsipras said. He underlined that the main aim of his two meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin was to kickstart relations with Russia, especially normalcy in trade relations, the presence of Russian tourists in Greece and that the pipeline through Turkey also goes through Greece.