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 In his first major speech to parliament since storming to power
last month, Tsipras rattled off a list of moves to reverse reforms
imposed by European and International Monetary Fund lenders: from
reinstating pension bonuses and cancelling a property tax to ending
mass layoffs and raising the mininum wage back to pre-crisis levels.
Showing little intent to heed warnings from EU partners to stick to
commitments in the 240-billion-euro ($272 billion) bailout, Tsipras
said he intended to fully respect campaign pledges to heal the
"wounds" of the austerity that was a condition of the money.
Greece would achieve balanced budgets but would no longer produce
unrealistic primary budget surpluses, he said, a reference to
requirements to be in the black excluding debt repayments.
"The bailout failed," the 40-year-old leader told parliament to
applause. "We want to make clear in every direction what we are not
negotiating. We are not negotiating our national sovereignty."
 In a symbolic move that appeared to take direct aim at Greece's
biggest creditor, Tsipras finished off his speech with a pledge to
seek World War Two reparations from Germany.
Tsipras ruled out an extending the bailout beyond Feb. 28 when it is
due to end, but said he believed a deal with European partners could
be struck on a "bridge" agreement within the next 15 days to keep
Greece afloat.
"The new government is not justified in asking for an extension," he
said. "Because it cannot ask for an extension of mistakes."
Athens, which is shut out of bond markets and will struggle to
finance itself without more aid quickly, plans to service its debt,
Tsipras said.
"The Greek people gave a strong and clear mandate to immediately end
austerity and change policies," he said. "Therefore the bailout was
first canceled by its very own failure and its destructive results."
"HUMANITARIAN CRISIS"
Tsipras' stance is being closely watched by European Union leaders
who to date have shown scant willingness to meet his demands,
fearing a wholesale backtracking on the fiscal and economic reforms
and a return to the free-spending days of the past that helped
Greece rack up over 300 billion euros in debt.
Thomas Wieser, president of the Euro Working Group that prepares
decisions at meetings of the euro zone's finance ministers, will be
in Athens on Monday, a Greek government official said.
In a bid to show he was serious about avoiding a new upward spiral
in public spending, Tsipras announced a series of cuts to make the
government leaner by trimming ministerial benefits like cars and
selling one of the prime minister's aircraft.
He also outlined plans to crackdown on tax evasion by targeting the
rich and pledged public sector contracts would no longer favor
oligarchs, a move that is likely to make him popular among the many
Greeks fed up of a state they believe serves the wealthy.
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Greeks have been severely hit by the austerity imposed on them by
the "troika" of European Central Bank, International Monetary Fund
and European Commission lenders. The country is only just coming out
of years of economic depression, but roughly one in four Greeks are
unemployed.
"The first priority of this government ... is tackling the big
wounds of the bailout, tackling the humanitarian crisis just as we
promised to do before the elections," Tsipras said.
PLAN FOR CHANGE
Over the past week, Greek officials have laid out what they see as a
transitional plan to keep finances flowing over the next few months
while they renegotiate their debt agreement.
Instead of the next tranche of bailout funds - 7.2 billion euros
due, pending a suspended review - Greece's new government wants the
right to issue more short-term debt beyond a current 15 billion euro
threshold. It also wants 1.9 billion euros in profits from Greek
bonds held by the European Central Bank and other euro zone
authorities.
With that as a bridge, Greek officials would then try to renegotiate
payment of Greek sovereign bond debt, perhaps by extending payments,
only paying interest and getting some respite on the budget surplus
it is expected to run.
One government official suggested that not everything had to happen
at once.
"The pace of the implementation of our promises is 'within four
years'," the official said.
Tsipras gave no indication of that during his speech, but voiced
optimism that a deal with Europe could happen quickly.
"Many ask: Is this possible to happen in the next days? The contacts
I had with the institutional partners of the European Union
convinced me that it is feasible," he said.
"Of course there may be many issues which are likely to require time
to negotiate, such as the debt issue. But we are fully ready to
agree now on most issues as part of a full program."
(Additional reporting by Costas Pitas; Writing by Jeremy Gaunt and
Deepa Babington; Editing by Robin Pomeroy and Alan Crosby)
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