ATHENS – Although Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis reiterated that he won’t call snap elections, major opposition SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras said he thinks that voters are ready.

In a rally in the main square of the major western neighborhood of Peristeri that drew a big crowd, Tsipras – who was ousted by Mitsotakis in July, 2019 snap polls, said that, “Political change has already started.”

He didn’t explain what he meant and polls have shown he’s 8-14 points behind Mitsotakis, with SYRIZA unable to chip away further despite the Premier facing a number of contentious issues.

Those include Turkish provocations, the lingering COVID-19 pandemic, the economy and soaring energy prices and inflation that’s at its highest in 29 years and cutting deep into the pocketbooks of Greek households.

Tsipras said the attendance was the “truest, most indisputable poll,” although Greek political rallies draw the faithful of their parties and are used to pump up their leaders.

But he said Mitsotakis “does not dare call elections,” he said, stressing that the current government “will not last for long,” which he has been saying almost since he lost the last election.