‘When you hear someone boasting about his own ethos and altruism, it is best to put your hand in your pocket to protect your wallet,” Alavanos said of SYRIZA’s self-proclaimed ‘moral advantage’.
In a no-holds-barred interview with in.gr, former SYRIZA leader Alekos Alavanos blasts his one-time protégé Alexis Tsipras as the greatest traitor of the Greek left ever.
“No one betrayed the left more in its entire history [than Tsipras]. Certainly there have been cases of leading figures that “turned around” and signed declarations of remorse and betrayed their party,” Alavanos declared, regarding the once ubiquitous “declarations of political convictions” which leftists were forced to sign, otherwise they were exiled to nearby or remote islands.
“Some left behind the radical stance of their youth, as was their right,” he added.
No one did more to launch Alexis Tsipras’ political career than Alavanos, who tapped him to be the candidate for the Athens mayoralty in 2006.
When he was elected SYRIZA leader on 10 February 2008, a 33-year-old Alexis Tsipras beat the widely respected 60-year-old veteran of the Greek left Fotis Kouvelis [currently alternate defence minister].
Tsipras won in a landslide, with the backing of Alavanos.
Though bitter over the behaviour of his successor, Alavanos rarely expresses his resentment for being unceremoniously sidelined by Tsipras. Indeed he makes clear that Tsipras’ rose to the prime ministership on his own steam.
