From 2004 until 2008 he was president of the Coalition of the Left of Movements and Ecology, commonly known as Synaspismos.

He was parliamentary leader of the wider Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA).

[citation needed] He was elected to the European Parliament in 1981 with the Communist Party of Greece and again in 1989, 1994 and 1999 with Synaspismos.

[citation needed] On 27 November 2007, Alavanos announced that he would not apply for a renewal of his presidency of Synaspismos at its 5th party congress in February 2008, due to private reasons.

If however, Greece is taken by surprise when forced to exit the eurozone, with people panicking, this is going to be a disaster."