Former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has ruled out any pre-election alliance with his former party, Syriza, declaring in his first televised interview since launching his new movement that the Hellenic Left Coalition, known as ELAS, was built to govern independently and end Greece's long run of conservative dominance.
Speaking on Alpha TV, Mr. Tsipras said Syriza's political cycle had conclusively closed and dismissed any suggestion of merging with opposition factions he characterised as spent forces. "I am not hosting a party to issue private invitations," he said, adding that while the movement welcomes new members, it offers "no reserved seats" for defecting lawmakers.
Sitting MPs wishing to join are free to resign their seats, he said, but any prospective candidate would face equal scrutiny once elections are called.
Should ELAS win a plurality in the next general election, Mr. Tsipras said the party would seek to form a government anchored strictly to its own legislative platform.
If those negotiations stalled, he pledged to force a snap second election to secure a clear governing mandate.
He pointed to early polling suggesting Greek politics is shifting back toward a genuine two-pole contest, with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis's New Democracy seeing its once-commanding double-digit lead narrow to below seven percentage points in some surveys.
"My objective is not simply to be the leader of the official opposition, but to govern," Mr. Tsipras said, noting that within 26 days ELAS had formed a 300-member National Council and a 50-person shadow cabinet.
On economic policy, Mr. Tsipras targeted what he called corporate tax avoidance, citing a 2025 Finance Ministry report showing the repeal of a capital gains tax on stock sales cost the state 600 million euros while benefiting just 61 legal entities.
He said recouping such revenue would fund free public transit in Athens and Thessaloniki and higher pay for doctors and teachers.
While ruling out new taxes on low- and middle-income households, Mr. Tsipras called for a mandatory "patriotic contribution" levied on the wealthiest 1 percent of citizens and highly profitable corporations to fund schools and public health services.