“Good returns.” A well-intentioned observer might interpret this familiar saying — often attributed to the wisdom of the Greek people — as reflecting former PASOK minister Odysseas Constantinopoulos’s recent remarks about Alexis Tsipras, former Prime Minister and leader of the Greek Left Coalition (ELAS). Constantinopoulos, speaking on SKAI TV on Tuesday, 23 June 2026, described Tsipras as “a serious player — no one can dispute that,” adding, “a player who will evolve in the coming period.”
A gesture with layered meanings
Many interpreted the phrase “good returns” as a nod to past courtesy shown by Tsipras — notably when he publicly credited Constantinopoulos for stepping down from his parliamentary seat after being expelled from PASOK’s parliamentary group. That act was widely seen as a gesture of political integrity.
Diverging readings
Yet not all observers read the comment charitably. Skeptics focused on the word “player,” questioning whether Constantinopoulos’s reference to Tsipras’s imminent evolution hints at broader political ambitions — perhaps even a shared or competing future in Greece’s shifting left-wing landscape.
From shared history to separate paths
Constantinopoulos once belonged to what he himself has called PASOK’s “heroic parliamentary group” — the faction that, during Greece’s debt crisis, bore heavy responsibility for national decisions. At that time, Tsipras — then opposition leader — famously derided then-Prime Minister George Papandreou with nicknames like “Pinochet-reou” or “Hollande-reou.” But as the speaker noted, much time has passed since those charged political days.