Former Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras has given his first interview since resigning from Parliament earlier this week to pursue what he called his “return to the hopeful uncertainty of social struggle”.

In an extensive conversation with Efimerida ton Syntakton, Tsipras confirmed that his long political chapter with SYRIZA is now closed, while launching a sweeping critique of both the government and the wider political system.

“My relationship with SYRIZA is a lifelong one,” Tsipras said, “but it has come to an end. (…) My decision to leave Parliament is an act of transcendence, rather than an attempt to compete”, he emphasized.

At 51years old, the former Prime Minister has united and divided the Left more than any of its representatives since his election at the helm of his former party in 2008. In his latest interview he reserved his harshest criticism for the government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, accusing it of “building a regime of corruption” and being led by “a prime minister who acts as an oligarch.” He argued that Greece is facing a dire situation: “corruption, a manipulated justice system, alongside and the blatant protection of the wealthy at the expense of the majority”.

Responding to recent attacks from Mitsotakis, who described Greece under SYRIZA in 2015 as a “pariah state,” Tsipras countered that his government had inherited “a devastated country” and left behind “an economy free of memoranda, with twelve consecutive quarters of growth and a stronger international standing”.

The former premier also discussed his forthcoming book, whose title remains a well-guarded secret, calling it “a debt to history and to the citizens of Greece”. The book, he said, will shed light on “all the known and unknown aspects” of the turbulent 2015–2019 period and “respond with facts and figures to the unprecedented distortion of truth” surrounding that era.

Tsipras described his resignation as “a leap forward” and “a moral decision to free myself from obligations, titles, and mechanisms”. He added that Greece’s entire political landscape, not just the government, is in dire need of renewal. “The political system has lost the trust of the majority,” he underscored. “We need new tools of thought and action. The people are the only force capable of change today”.

Government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis swiftly responded, accusing Tsipras of “personality cult politics” and creating a “political monstrosity.” Speaking on Greek television earlier on Saturday, Marinakis argued that during Tsipras’s tenure Greece lagged behind Europe in growth and wages, contrasting it with what he described as the Mitsotakis government’s “strong performance in investment, employment, and income” at a challenging time for EU development targets.

Nevertheless, Tsipras’s words have once again reignited debate over the future of Greece’s Left and whether he can unite the fragmented opposition or merely reinforce the fragmentation and ensure the re-election of Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his right-wing party.