Konstantinos Simitis

Konstantinos Simitis (2012)

Konstantinos (Kostas) Simitis ( Greek Κωνσταντίνος Σημίτης , born June 23, 1936 in Piraeus ) is a Greek politician of the social democratic PASOK and was Prime Minister of the Republic of Greece from January 22, 1996 to March 10, 2004 .

Career

Konstantinos Simitis studied law and economics at the Philipps University in Marburg (1954-1959), where he in 1959 with a dissertation also on "Good manners and ordre publique" doctorate was. He then continued his studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science (1961–1963). From 1971 he worked as a lecturer at the University of Konstanz , in 1971 he was appointed full professor for commercial and civil law at the Justus Liebig University in Giessen , where he worked until 1975. In 1977 he switched to political science as a professorPanteion University of Athens . Since 1961 Simitits has also worked as a lawyer at Areopagus , the highest court in Athens.

Simitis is the brother of Spiros Simitis , the long-time data protection officer of the State of Hesse and law professor.

Simitis' father was a lawyer, professor at the University of Athens and long-time president of the Piraeus Bar Association.

politics

Simitis was an active participant in the resistance against the military dictatorship and a member of the National Council of the Panhellenic Liberation Movement (PAK). By fleeing into German exile (1969–1974) he escaped imminent arrest. Simitis is a founding member of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement ( PASOK , September 3, 1974) and became a member of the executive committee and the presidium of the party. Since 1985 he has been a PASOK MP for the constituency of Piraeus . He held ministerial posts in all governments and in the all-party coalition of 1989. He came into conflict with Andreas Papandreou because he criticized his populist policies, but the latter was dependent on him because of Simitis' economic expertise. He was threatened with expulsion proceedings twice.

On January 22, 1996, Simitis succeeded the party founder Andreas Papandreou, who had recently fallen ill, as Prime Minister. PASOK received 41.49% of the vote (minus 5.39 percentage points) and 162 of the 300 seats in parliament ; Simitis formed his second cabinet .

In the parliamentary elections on April 8, 2000 , PASOK received 43.79% of the vote and 158 of the 300 seats; Simitis formed his third cabinet .

Simitis resigned as Prime Minister on February 8, 2004, shortly before the scheduled parliamentary elections in 2004 . He said he wanted to start a generation change. His successor as PASOK chairman was Giorgos Papandreou , whom he had appointed Foreign Minister in February 1999. Papandreou was also PASOK's lead candidate in the parliamentary elections; PASOK lost to ND with the top candidate Konstantinos Karamanlis (→ Karamanlis I cabinet ).

Web links

Commons : Konstantinos Simitis  - Collection of Images

Footnotes

1. ↑ In tears. In: Der Spiegel. January 22, 1996, accessed April 10, 2020 . 
2. ↑ The successor. In: taz. January 20, 1996, accessed April 10, 2020 . 
3. ↑ Election Results. In: hellenicparliament.gr . Accessed September 3, 2018 . 
4. ↑ Prime Minister Simitis gives up office and party leadership. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine. FAZ.NET, January 7, 2004, accessed April 10, 2020 . 

predecessor	Office	successor
Andreas Papandreou	Prime Minister of Greece 1996-2004	Kostas Karamanlis