On the night of 26 May 2026, with the Acropolis floodlit behind him, Mr. Alexis Tsipras, the former Greek Prime Minister, stood in Thiseio Square and announced his return. Seven years after he left office, he unveiled a new party whose acronym, ELAS, carries three echoes at once: the word for Greece, the wartime resistance army, and (to his critics' amusement) the national police. What follows is a translation of the founding declaration he held up that evening.
[Selected translated excerpts]
Today, we don't just live in tumultuous times; we find ourselves in the midst of a profound historical transformation. The constant widening of inequalities, the intensity of the climate crisis, and the concentration of technological power in the hands of the few have created a new threatening environment.
The unchecked dominance of the capitalist markets, across the planet, continually sharpens the contrast between the incredible opportunities that are being created by scientific and technological advancements and their utilization by a fringe minority of vast economic and political power.
In a world without rules, the notions of Peace, International Law, and Human Rights are increasingly disregarded in favor of wars, resulting to a new reality of human tragedies and famine. Insecurity and fear become the dominant emotions besieging the lives of billions of people.
This is *not* the result of natural developments. It's the consequence of a system that concentrates an unthinkable amount of economic and political power in the hands of the few, while billions live with the uncertainty of tomorrow.
We cannot, and do not want a world plunged in conflict. We cannot accept the hundreds of thousands of dead from the wars in Europe and the Middle East. We cannot stay quiet in the face of injustice, and we certainly do not accept the justice of the few (and the strong); we seek for an international justice. To be quiet in the face of brutality is not neutrality--it's complicity.
The same thing happens every time when the profits of the few are placed above the concerns and lives of the many. Every time economic power operates without restraint, it shows indifference to the future of the planet itself.
This is exactly what the climate crisis demonstrates--a crisis that doesn't belong to the future anymore. It's already here. We feel it in the prolonged heat-waves, during the catastrophic floods, the wildfires that obliterate entire regions off the map. We live it in the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the environment which becomes increasingly hostile.
Its consequences are not just environmental. They threaten our food supply, our physical security, our infrastructure, our economy--our civilization itself. Millions are fleeing, and the weak are the ones facing the devastating consequences.
Our planet doesn't need us--we need it.
And, rather than tapping into our spectacular advancements in technology and artificial intelligence to bring about social justice, environmental solutions, and sustainable progress, these technologies are used in ways that threaten people's livelihoods, our shared resources and our human rights.
The rights won through decades of struggle are being dismantled in the name of a so-called free market economy. A market without rules or meaningful protections for workers--with grueling hours and inadequate safety regulations.
Instead of guaranteeing dignity and security, work is increasingly becoming a realm of insecurity and fear. A place where workers lose their lives while trying to earn a living.
And while, once, in the Western world at least, hard work meant a more dignified life, a certain degree of security and protection, and a few well-earned weeks of vacation, today even these achievements are being curtailed and called into question.
The social discontent generated by this course of action is exploited by the oligarchies of the world by pitting workers against one another. They foster racism and nationalism. They rationalize war as a necessary evil—even as a good. Neoliberalism embraces Neofascism, often openly. Authoritarian governments and totalitarian regimes are emerging in the East and West. And they undermine not only democratic rights and achievements but even reason, science, and the need for collective action to protect the planet from the climate crisis. If we continue like this, our children will be fighting for bread, and our grandchildren for water—and their very lives.
Human nature predestines us to grow and find happiness through solidarity, companionship, and community. The very idea of democracy is based on the assumption that the many think more justly and more correctly than any individual acting alone. To achieve human development, we need collectivity, empathy, and deliberation. Otherwise, work alienates us, the economy is unjust, institutions decline, and we sink into misery.
In a world where people are becoming increasingly lonely, weak, and insecure, it is worth remembering the timely words of Makrygiannis: let us return to “us.” Both in decision-making and in the distribution of wealth and political power for the benefit of the people.