Tsipras grilled by Stai

Asked about his party's target in the upcoming European Parliamentary elections, he refused to pinpoint the deficit under which he would feel satisfied, claiming instead that even one vote more than New Democracy is a win and will legitimize his party's position that the government has to go. He added that even in that scenario, SYRIZA would ask for early general elections on May 26, the day after the European parliament elections.

Asked whether he believes the polls showing a slight SYRIZA lead against ND are accurate, he said that although he doesn't doubt their findings, it should be noted that many voters refuse to answer pollsters and many people don't own land lines, which might affect the polls outcome. Still, he pointed out that there will be surprises in the outcome of the elections which polls can't predict.

Naturally, one of the most pivotal issues about the SYRIZA campaign is the party's position on the currency, given certain voices inside the party claiming that a potential return to former national currency drachma is not out of the question. He clarified that in his mind there is no doubt that Greece will remain in the Euro zone, particularly since it has been all but accepted by the European partners that there can be no Euro without Greece.

Nevertheless, he appeared to be keeping a small door open in case recovery can't be achieved with the common European currency. “We will do everything to keep the country in the Euro zone, but not the Euro in the country, no matter what”, he said, adding that in a humanitarian crisis when people are committing suicide, the currency can't be the most important issue.

Another contentious issue for SYRIZA is their handling of the so called “memorandum policies”, the country obligations with the Troika, committed by the current government through approved parliament bills. Tsipras agreed that should SYRIZA assume government, his party's task would be titanic. His position is that a potential SYRIZA win will mean an end to austerity policies not just in Greece, but also as a predominant European policy. His plan is to gradually abolish memorandum policies while at the same time altering the country's production model.

Asked what his first moves in government would be, he prioritized reconnecting power to those who currently can't afford it and re-establishing minimum wage to the pre-2009 levels of 751 euros. He also advocated a partial debt write off for small businesses suffering from austerity policies. That, by the way, is his long term plan for the Greek debt viability, via a pan-European agreement to partially write-off the unsustainable debt of all southern European states. He advocates the establishment of a huge write-off plan, similar to the one implemented in Germany and other ravaged European countries at the end of WWII. He even hinted that the Germans, currently opposing such a plan, have no legitimacy to be doing so, since not only they were the receivers of the plan, but also have yet to repay the loan they demanded of Greece during Nazi occupation.

Tsipras reiterated his belief that his party will win absolute majority in the Greek parliament in the next general elections, which he first expressed a few days ago in an online Q & A with British newspaper The Guardian. If that doesn't happen, he was rather cryptic about potential collaboration with other parties for the formation of a coalition government.

He excluded New Democracy conservatives, for being “the old establishment which brought the country to its knees all these years” and said that we should wait and see the parties strength in the new parliament before talking more specifically about coalitions.

Asked what he would do if his party loses the elections, he answered that he has no problem to talk about a succession to his presidency, since he was not a professional politician and was not stuck to positions of power. Finally, he said he is no fortune teller, but his belief is that there will be general elections in 2014, given that in his mind, it will be unbearable for the coalition government to remain in power sustaining what he projects will be a big defeat.