FT: ‘Lone wolf’ Tsipras struggles to rally faithful on eve of election

Not for the first time this summer, Alexis Tsipras was found wanting. It was Monday’s pre-election debate, the last before Greeks go to the polls on Sunday, and his opponent speculated that the cameras had been positioned to give the former prime minister an extra inch of height.
FT tracked the tenure of Tsipras and his mostly leftist, party rightist government since late January, with the highlight being the latter’s shift from a European “prophet” of anti-austerity politics to a apprentice of the third memorandum he signed.
FT also prominently focused on the “lifestyle” changes apparent over the summer by the one-time communist party youth member, a transformation detailed in a series of exclusive articles by Proto Thema.
Here’s an example:
“…And it is not just his political choices that have opened him up to allegations of betraying his principles. Mr Tsipras caused a media storm this month (September) when his eldest son enrolled (in kindergarten) at one of Greece’s most prestigious and expensive private schools. Meanwhile, he spent the summer at a villa owned by a wealthy Greek shipowner, commuting to his office by helicopter.
…’Coming to power changed everything,’ said a former Syriza MP. ‘The prime minister and his team stepped aside from the party. They stopped the collective processes’.

“Leaving helicopters and fancy schools aside, the unpardonable sin that may ultimately doom Mr Tsipras was his decision to agree to an €86bn international bailout in July that he had campaigned against — and one that nearly two-thirds of Greeks rejected in a national referendum.”