ATHENS — SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance leader Alexis Tsipras criticized a decision by the Greek parliament to postpone a debate on the coronavirus pandemic and its burden on public transport, scheduled for Friday.

The postponement was announced by parliament President Constantine Tassoulas said on Thursday, who explained that Tsipras' request was put through under different circumstances, right before the latest lockdown announcement. Tassoulas encouraged him to resubmit the request later, following a national lockdown to the end of November announced on November 5.

The cancellation gave rise to SYRIZA party reactions, with main opposition party leader Tsipras announcing in social media that he will instead be holding a press conference on Friday "to see these arguments publicly heard."

Moreover, he slammed the government for what he called its attempt to block parliamentary procedures, "after the lockdown announcement" and what he called "the prime minister's confession of failure" in managing the pandemic.

"Democracy will not be quarantined," he added.