Andreas Tsounis, husband of the late PASOK leader Fofi Gennimata, strongly disputed former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s account in his book regarding a conversation between Tsipras and Gennimata on the night of the September 2015 elections.
Speaking to SKAI, Tsounis said: “Alexis Tsipras is a habitual liar; I think this is known and understood by Greek society as a whole.” He denied that any offer of a coalition government was ever made during the customary congratulatory phone call between party leaders that evening: “When the ceremonial phone call between the leaders took place, no such proposal was ever made, never — and it surprises me that he keeps saying it, as if repeating it will make it stick.”
Tsounis added that he and Gennimata had discussed the possibility of such an offer before the elections and had concluded it would never happen. He explained their reasoning: Tsipras feared PASOK — he was worried that SYRIZA might be absorbed by PASOK rather than the other way around. “Fofi was unifying and inclusive, and Tsipras was afraid of that. Our assessment proved true,” Tsounis said.
The statements were made in response to claims by the former prime minister included in his book about the post-election dialogue with Gennimata. Tsounis criticized Tsipras’s continued insistence on the version of events, saying it reflects on his character and has not changed. (Source: interview on SKAI)
