ATHENS – Main opposition SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance leader Alexis Tsipras on Wednesday expressed certainty that the prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has decided to call snap elections, suggesting that the prime minister “wants to ‘escape’ because he can’t deal with what is coming”.

Speaking during an interview that he gave during the 30th Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE) General Assembly, Tsipras said that “a prime minister decides to resort to early elections for two reasons: either when he is absolutely certain that he will win or when he is absolutely certain that he cannot cope with what is coming and has decided to ‘escape’ in one way or another.”

Tsipras sternly attacked Mitsotakis over high prices, saying that it was an instance of “double profiteering”, by the energy sector, on the one hand, and the state on the other. He pointed out that the state’s coffers were full because VAT remained the same whereas prices were increasing. “Filling up the coffers by plundering the middle class and the weakest by maintaining high VAT with such high inflation is not honest,” he said, accusing Mitsotakis of doing this in order to distribute hand outs before the elections.