The specter of a political comeback by former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is increasingly looming over Greece’s political landscape.
While such a return would undoubtedly galvanize a fragmented opposition, analysts suggest it could also paradoxically shore up Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s conservative New Democracy (ND) party by re-energizing the critical “Anti-SYRIZA Front” among centrist and middle-class voters.
Mitsotakis currently enjoys a comfortable parliamentary majority and leads by wide margins in opinion polls. He is largely benefiting from a disoriented and fragmented left following SYRIZA’s decisive defeat in the 2023 elections and Tsipras’s subsequent resignation.
A return by Tsipras, a charismatic and well-known figure, would immediately inject a powerful new dynamic into Greek politics, forcing Mitsotakis to recalibrate his strategy.
Tsipras: Rebranding for the center-left
Although Tsipras resigned from SYRIZA and parliament, he is leveraging his ongoing high name recognition to execute a deliberate political rebranding effort. The aim is to shed the image of the radical anti-austerity firebrand of 2015 and position himself as a more centrist and progressive statesman—the “realist” manager of the crisis.
This pivot is encapsulated in his recently released, 730-page memoir, Ithaki (Ithaca), which serves as both a personal reckoning and an unmistakable political repositioning tool. The book covers the tumultuous 2015-2019 period and the subsequent years, framed as a long and difficult voyage from crisis to self-critique.
Criticism of former comrades
Crucially, the memoir attempts to distance Tsipras from the failures of his government, particularly the disastrous first six months of 2015, by criticizing several of his former allies.
Yanis Varoufakis: Tsipras directs his strongest criticism at his former Finance Minister, portraying him as an “egotistical” figure more interested in promoting his “game theories” and books than securing a viable deal for Greece. Tsipras claims Varoufakis turned from an asset into a “negative protagonist.”
Other Figures: The book also levels barbs at other former comrades, including:
Nikos Pappas: Described as “enthusiastic but careless,” blaming him for mishandling the television licensing issue.
Zoe Konstantopoulou: Who showed “self-destructive intransigence.”
Stefanos Kasselakis: The former SYRIZA leader, whom Tsipras claims he tried to dissuade from running, calling him “arrogant.”
Critics immediately seized upon this selective criticism, pointing out Tsipras’s “astonishing naiveté” and ultimate responsibility for appointing these very figures to crucial government positions despite their inexperience or radical views.
This narrative twist, while aimed at the center, is already sparking internal conflicts on the left and providing ammunition for his opponents.
Can Tsipras unify the fractured center-left?
A Tsipras-led movement is widely expected to immediately draw support from the currently fragmented left—including splinter groups from SYRIZA and potentially dissatisfied voters from PASOK—forcing Mitsotakis to fight against a single, cohesive, and credible major challenger rather than a scattering of small parties.
The political contest would revert to the familiar ideological fault line: stability and economic normalcy (Mitsotakis) versus social justice and change (Tsipras).
Tsipras would likely attack the government on the cost of living crisis and the handling of the wiretapping and rule of law scandals, seeking to paint the ND government as arrogant and authoritarian.
Opportunity for Mitsotakis: Revitalizing the anti-SYRIZA front
However, Tsipras’s re-emergence offers an equally significant benefit to Mitsotakis: the ability to revitalize the Anti-SYRIZA Front, which is the bedrock of ND’s support.
For many centrist, middle-class, and professional voters, Tsipras remains indelibly associated with the traumatic period of capital controls, the 2015 “OXI” referendum chaos, and the imposition of significant, broad-based tax increases (on income, VAT, and property) required to meet the bailout targets.
Mitsotakis would immediately weaponize this memory, contrasting Tsipras’ unpredictability and high taxes with his own government’s narrative of tax cuts, investment attraction, and economic stability. The middle class, in particular, suffered under the SYRIZA years and would likely be hesitant to welcome back the man associated with that instability.
By presenting the next election as a clear binary choice between Order (Mitsotakis) vs. Instability (Tsipras), Mitsotakis can effectively focus his campaign and messaging, using the past as a constant reminder to moderate voters of the chaos they wish to avoid.
A Tsipras comeback would end the period of opposition complacency and usher in a renewed, highly polarized political contest in Greece.
While the move represents a significant challenge that will test Mitsotakis’s reform agenda, it also hands him his most effective political tool: the ability to rally centrist and middle-class voters defensively against the remembered high costs and unpredictability of the former SYRIZA government.
The net result is that the Greek political scene is set for a dramatic, if somewhat familiar, showdown.
Related: Tsipras on the Political Drama of July 2015: Defiance, the 17-Hour Showdown and the U-Turn
Related: Putin to Tsipras in 2015: “I Would Prefer to Give the Money to an Orphanage”