Can I ask a quick question? What’s the point, after all, of the unbridled joy of Alexis Tsipras who, according to the polls, less than 24 hours after the founding of ELAS had once again taken its place as the official official opposition?
Could someone politely remind Alexis Tsipras that it may have become the official opposition within a single day and with a vote share of around 15%, but exactly the same thing had happened on May 21, 2023.During the roughly twelve hours that the polls were open, SYRIZA—the same applies to ELAS, just to clarify—emerged as the official opposition, in fact with a higher percentage than what the polls currently give it. At that time, it had approximately 17% and not the 15% it has now, even in the polls.
That is why the picture seems somewhat paradoxical. It’s not clear why a position he already held—albeit under different circumstances—is being presented as a major political vindication. Nor is it clear why there is such celebration over the return to a percentage lower than the one with which he left, heavily—politically wounded by the leadership of SYRIZA.
The paradox becomes even greater when one considers that Alexis Tsipras had been absent from the front lines for nearly three years. Not only from the party leadership, but also from the day-to-day political battle that comes with the role of the official opposition—a role entrusted to him by the will of the people.
And now, he is clearly returning satisfied, because he finds himself once again at the same point, but with less political power than he had when he left, which is somewhat ironic—but never mind!
That’s why the question remains: what exactly is being celebrated? The return, or the fact that, after three years of absence, the political odometer shows less than it did when he left?
