For Polakis, the Tsipras Manifesto looks more like a heterochronic repetition of the positions that SYRIZA-PS had already voted for at its recent June 2025 congress.
After presenting his expected manifesto, Alexis Tsipras is struggling to don the robe of the protector of institutions and the self-appointed guardian of the rule of law, as if the country’s history began to be written the day he lost power. But political memory remains the most relentless tool of criticism.
For many political observers, the concepts of “Tsipras” and “rule of law” are not just alien to each other, but structurally incompatible, as evidenced by the record of an administration that did not hesitate to transform the then EYP into an internal policing and “political blackmail” parlour. At the same time he had attempted to subjugate the judiciary in various ways, according to official complaints by the former minister of justice in the left-wing governmentStavros Kontonis.
Today, Mr Tsipras is discovering “democratic aberrations” with the ease with which he once changed, in his own interest, the outcome of referendums. But he is the same man who, when his government was watching his close associates and ministers, thought everything was going well. Although his current manifesto has a lot of words about the rule of law and institutions, many remember that the first time Left period was a systematic attempt to control the seams of power, where moral advantage was used as a smokescreen for shady practices.
One need not look far for evidence, since the hard core people themselves expose him irreparably. The case of the surveillance of Stergios Pitsiorla and Spyros Sayas is a monument to political cynicism. Key people, charged with managing public property, were under the watchful eye of “big brother”. The then commander of the NIS, Giannis Roubatis, effectively admitted that Tsipras was aware of the connections.
It is outrageous to hear today about the rule of law, when in his day the government was watching … itself. Alongside the surveillance paracracy, the “mega trick” with the Novartis scandal was unfolding
According to Stavros Kontoni’s revelations, a peculiar “parastatal ministry of justice” was set up in Maximou, a mechanism that operated outside any institutional framework with the aim of politically eliminating opponents.
According to Stavros Kontoni’s revelations, a peculiar “parastatal ministry of justice”was set up in Maximou. The instrumentalization of justice and the construction of guilty people with hooded witnesses was the culmination of an authoritarian mentality. The “national interest” excuses and foreign agency scripts now sound like a poorly written spy novel.
The problem with Alexis Tsipras is not only his past actions, but his complete lack of self-criticism and his attempt to underestimate the intelligence of the citizens. When he baptizes his own aberrations as a service to the national interest, political observers speak of pure mockery. Democracy requires consistency. You can’t be both with the NSA of the first-time Left and with the independence of the authorities, depending on who sits in the Maxime chair. After all, the complaints about the then “parastate” did not come from the opposition, but from within his own party. As long as Mr Tsipras refuses to take responsibility for the system he set up and tolerated, his rhetoric through manifestos will remain an empty letter. History has written that the institutional order was overtly subjugated to the needs of a partisan state, and no communication storm, backed by interlocking enclaves, can wash that away.
Kramer vs. Kramer
The political scene in the left-wing space once again resembles a boiling pot, as the publication of the new text by Alexis Tsipras’ Institute brought not only discussions, but also direct shots from familiar faces. Paulos Polakis, true to his explosive style, did not let the opportunity go to waste, unleashing harsh criticism that goes beyond the limits of mere disagreement and touches the core of the strategic direction. In a post with a strongly ironic and caustic political style, the MP for Chania put his finger on the type of sounds, wondering initially about the usefulness of the text.
For Polakis, the Tsipras manifesto is more like a rhetorical repetition of positions that SYRIZA-PS had already voted for at its recent June 2025 conference. His observation is clear as to “why seek new theoretical foundations when the decisions of the body are already more advanced and radical;”.
However, the real “juice” of his critique lies not in what was written, but in what was omitted, with him pointing to gaps that can be considered anything but accidental. Polakis does not speak in generalities. He focuses with surgical precision on two red lines that, in his view, the Tsipras text avoids touching, on the one hand the re-nationalisation of strategic sectors and on the other the deep cut in Justice.
He appears even more caustic on the issue of Justice. Generalities are fine, he says, but unless the judiciary is changed and specific safeguards are put in place for the speedy adjudication of cases of misappropriation of public money, the system will remain locked in its pathologies.
For Polakis, the clash with the “oligarchy of the interconnectedness” is not a theoretical exercise, but a daily battle that requires specific tools and a political will that is not afraid to break eggs.His message is more than clear against Tsipras, as he believes that the unity of progressive forces cannot be built on vague texts and academic pursuits.
