Editorial: Mr. Varoufakis was your pick, Mr. Tsipras

In early January, 2015, when there were rumours that Yanis Varoufakis would be tapped as (what by all appearances would be) the incoming SYRIZA government, Alexis Tsipras received warnings from various quarters that it would be a wrong-headed choice.

Friends, associates, and various public figures told Mr. Tsipras that Mr. Varoufakis was a dreamer with ideological fixations who would damage the country and him.

Mr. Tsipras ignored the warnings and picked Varoufakis for the top ministry anyway.

The PM stood by his decision even when his minister's first moves demonstrated clearly his inability to handle Greece's relations with its partners.

Indeed, the PM responded to the criticism by declaring that Varoufakis was an asset for the government!

The rest is history. Varoufakis literally blew out of the water negotiations with Greece's European partners and later when the referendum on the third bailout memorandum was held, Tsipras had to sack him to avoid a clash with creditors that would have been fateful for the country.

Mr. Varoufakis after leaving the government took to the lecture circuit and tried to justify his outrageous choices.

He later published a book with details of his tenure and raised a political maelstrom with his description of the government's almost adolescent manner of managing the country's problems.

Even then, Mr. Tsipras avoided any criticism of his former minister.

Pressured by Varoufakis' constant criticism, the PM recently described him as an establishment figure who suddenly became the darling of the  media for the simple reason that his new party would serve to impede SYRIZA's efforts to reverse its major defeat in the 26 May European Parliament election.

For Mr. Tsipras once...