Former Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced his resignation as a deputy of parliament on Monday, prompting speculation that he may be preparing to launch a new political movement. In a statement after submitting the chairman of the House of Representatives before the new parliamentary session, Tsipras said his decision was led by conscience after 16 years in parliament, including periods as chairman of SYRIZA, opposition leader and prime minister.
“It was neither an easy nor thoughtless decision. I resign because I can’t and I don’t want to hold the position of MP, with all its privileges, when I feel that my participation, especially in the special position of the former prime minister, makes no essential contribution to those who believe me”, Said Alexis Tsipras, former Prime Minister of Greece.
He criticized the current parliament for the inability to perform its constitutional role.
“I cannot and do not want to formally participate in a parliament that, democratically weakened, largely because of the responsibility of the majority, fails to fulfill the role that the Constitution and the citizens requires”, Tsipras said.
Tsipras emphasized that his resignation from parliament would not say a withdrawal from politics, saying he was giving up the security of parliamentary chairs, returning to social engagement. Addressing his former Syriza colleagues, Tsipras said:
“We will not be opposed. And maybe soon we will travel again together to the most beautiful seas”He said.
During his speech, Tsipras called for collective action to face the challenges Greece faces, which he says are economic, political, geopolitical and above all moral. Alexis Tsipras, who led the left -wing party Syriza, served as prime minister from 2015 to 2019, leading Greece at the height of its financial crisis. His mandate ended when Syriza lost power in the face of the new democracy, which currently rules in the Hellenic state.
