2009 Elections

Legislative election 2009 results map. Green denotes those won by PASOK.

A political rally organized by the Panhellenic Socialism Movement in Thessaloniki

In June 2009, the PA.SO.K. won the 2009 European Parliament election in Greece . Four months later, the Party enjoyed a resounding victory in the October 2009 general elections with 43.92% of the popular vote to ND's 33.48%, and 160 parliament seats to 91. Due to a number of defections and expulsions since 2009, PA.SO.K. (from 1 November 2011) helda slim majority of 152 of the parliament's 300 seats.
A poll in October 2011 on behalf of the Greek TV channel Skai TV and the newspaper Kathimerini(after the necessary austerity measures that were taken to tackle the financial crisis) however, revealed that of the people asked, 92% felt disappointed by the government while only 5% believe that a PA.SO.K. government would be best for the country in the next elections.In the same survey, when asked about whether people have a positive or negative opinion of the various Greek political Parties, the PA.SO.K. scored as the lowest, with 76% answering "negative" .It should be acknowledged that all the Parties had strongly negative assessments.The same survey showed that the support on the PA.SO.K. if elections were to be held, would be 22.5%, the lowest since 1977, while gaining only 53–77 seats.

History

Foundation

The first members of the Party were the main organizers of the collapse of the Military Junta of 1967–1974 and the re-establishment of Democracy in 3 September 1974 . Its founder was Andreas Papandreou, son of the late Greek liberal leader and three times Prime Minister Georgios Papandreou Sr. . Its founding mottos were "National Independence, Popular Sovereignty, Social Emancipation, Democratic Process." Andreas Papandreou was offered the leadership of the liberal political forces immediately after the restoration of Democracy, but in a risky move he declined, so the leadership was assumed by Georgios Mavros. Papandreou, a very powerful orator and charismatic leader, explicitly rejected the ideological heritage of his father, and stressed the fact that he was a socialist, not a liberal .

The First Years

At the November 1974 elections the Party received only 13.5% of the vote and won 15 seats (out of 300), coming third behind the center-right New Democracy Party of Konstantinos Karamanlis and the centrist Center Union - New Forces of Georgios Mavros. At the November 1977 elections, however, the PA.SO.K. eclipsed the centrists, doubled its share of the vote and won 92 seats, becoming the main opposition Party.

In Government

At the October 1981 national elections the PA.SO.K. won a landslide victory with 48% of the vote and capturing 173 seats; it formed the first socialist government in the history of Greece since 1924. Although Papandreou had campaigned for withdrawal of Greece from NATO and the European Economic Community, after a strong request by the rest of the Party members and its supporters, changed his policy towards both institutions. He proved to be an excellent negotiator when it came to securing benefits and subsidies for Greece from the EEC. For example, in 1985 he openly threatened Jacques Delors to veto the entry of Spain and Portugal in the Community in order to secure more monetary aid for Greece .
In 1986, the PA.SO.K. government amended the Greek constitution to remove most powers from the President and give wider authority to the Prime Minister and the Executive Government. Civil marriages, not consecrated by religious ceremony, were recognized as equally valid with religious weddings. The left-wing Resistance movement against the Axis in World War II was recognized after, and leftist resistance fighters were given state pensions, while political refugees of the Greek Civil War were finally given permission to return to Greece . The National Health System was created and various repressive laws of the anti-communist postwar establishment were abolished, wages were boosted, an independent and multidimensional foreign policy was pursued, many reforms in Family Law to strengthened the rights of women and the Greek Gendarmerie was abolished in 1984. At the June 1985 elections, received 46% of the vote and won 161 seats, thus securing a stable parliamentary majority for its second term in power.
It continued to be popular for much of its second term, especially in March 1987 when Andreas Papandreou vigorously and successfully handled a crisis in the Aegean with Turkey. By late 1988 however, both the government's popularity and Papandreou's health had declined. The former, because of press reports of financial and corruption scandals that surfaced, implicating Ministers and, allegedly, Andreas Papandreou himself as well as because of fiscal austerity measures imposed after the Keynesian policies of the first term. PA.SO.K. lost the June 1989 elections with 40% of the vote while the opposing New Democracy got 44,3%. The PA.SO.K. had changed the electoral law before the elections, making it harder for the leading Party to form a majority government, so the legislature was deadlocked. Its share of the vote in June 1989 was not considered a failure; for months there was a concerted mudslinging aiming the Party (mainly by the conservative press) .
Another election in November produced a very similar result. After a brief period of a grand coalition government, in which the PA.SO.K. participated, a third election in April 1990 brought New Democracy back to power. Despite a 7% lead in popular vote over the PA.SO.K., New Democracy could only secure a marginal majority in the Hellenic Parliament, electing 152 MPs out of a total of 300; The PA.SO.K. had secured a larger number of representatives on a lower percentage of votes, as well as a smaller lead, in the elections of 1985, under the previous electoral system. Its representation in the Parliament shrunk to 121 M.P.s in 1990.
In opposition, the PA.SO.K. underwent a leadership crisis when Andreas Papandreou was prosecuted over his supposed involvement in the Bank of Crete scandal. He was eventually acquitted and, in a dramatic reversal of fortunes, at the October 1993 elections he led the Party to another landslide victory. He returned to office with 47% of the vote and his re-election was considered by many a vote of confidence of the public against his prosecution. In November 1995, however, Papandreou's health began to deteriorate and the Party was racked with leadership conflicts.

 GEORGE PAPANDREOUS'S FORMER PARTY :          ''PASOK'' !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

       Panhellenic Socialist Movemen

Panhellenic Socialist Movement Πανελλήνιο Σοσιαλιστικό Κίνημα
Leader	Evangelos Venizelos
Secretary-General	Nikos Androulakis
Founder	Andreas Papandreou
Slogan	Reconstitution Your thought, our policy proposal
Founded	3 September 1974
Headquarters	Athens
Youth wing	PASOK Youth
Ideology	Social democracy, Third Way, Social liberalism
Political position	Centre-left
International affiliation	Socialist International, Progressive Alliance
European affiliation	Party of European Socialists
European Parliament group	Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
Colours	Green
Hellenic Parliament	27 / 300
Seats in the European Parliament	7 / 22
Regions[11]	373 / 725
Website
www.pasok.gr
Politics of Greece Political parties Elections

The Panhellenic Socialist Movement (Greek: Πανελλήνιο Σοσιαλιστικό Κίνημα), known mostly by its acronym PA.SO.K. (Greek: ΠΑΣΟΚ, pronounced,is a centre-left party.
It was founded on 3 September 1974 by Andreas Papandreou. In 1981 the PA.SO.K. became Greece's first social democratic party to win a majority in the Hellenic Parliament.
It is a member of the Socialist International, the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats and the Party of European Socialists.

Personal life

Papandreou and his wife attend the Quadriga Award 2010 ceremony on 3 October 2010 in Berlin.

 

 

 

George Papandreou is married to Ada Papapanos and they have a daughter, Margarita-Elena (born 1990). He also has a son, Andreas (born 1982), from a previous civil wedding to Evanthia Zissimides (1976–1987).
He has two younger brothers, Nikos Papandreou and Andreas Papandreou, and two younger sisters, Sophia Papandreou and Emilia Nyblom.
Apart from Greek and English, he is also fluent in Swedish. One of his paternal greatgrandfathers was of Polish descent.

Crisis management and bailouts

On 23 April 2010 during a visit at the island of Kastelorizo, Papandreou issued a statement to the press that he instructed the Finance Minister to officially ask the EU partners to activate the support mechanism, 'an unprecedented mechanism in the history and practice of the European Union'.The support mechanism, which was put in place by the European heads of state and government and further elaborated by Euro Group ministers, is a European mechanism to which the IMF is associated with financing and it involves a comprehensive three-year economic program and financing conditions. On 23 April 2010, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced that Greece made a request for a Stand-By Arrangement. Greece's sovereign debt crisis, which is considered as part of the European sovereign debt crisis is marked by massive strikes and demonstrations.
On an opinion poll published on 18 May 2011, 77% of the people asked said they have no faith in Papandreou as Prime Minister in handling the Greek economic crisis.
On 25 May 2011 the Real Democracy Now! movement started protesting in Athens and other major Greek cities. At the time, the peaceful protests were considered to be a sign of popular rejection of Mr. Papandreou and his government's economic policies,with as much as three quarters of the Greek population being against the policies of the Papandreou government. Among the demands of the demonstrations at Athens's central square, who claim to have been over 500,000 at one point, is the resignation of Papandreou and his government.
In the early hours of 22 June, George Papandreou and his government narrowly survived a vote of confidence in the Greek parliament, with 155 of the 300 seats in parliament. His government held 152 seats.
On 17 September, he cancelled a visit to the IMF building in Washington D.C and the UN Headquarters in New York City amid mounting concern over the country's debt crisis.
An opinion poll by Public Issue on behalf of Skai TV and Kathimerini in October 2011 showed that Papandreou's popularity has dropped considerably.Of the people asked, only 23% had a positive view of George Papandreou, while 73% had a negative opinion; ranking him lower than any other leader of a party in the Hellenic Parliament. Papandreou also ranked low on the question of who is more suitable for Prime Minister, with just 22%, as both Antonis Samaras (28%) and "neither" (47%) ranked higher than him.

George Papandreou and Antonis Samaras with Karolos Papoulias, the President of Greece, on 6 November 2011 discussing the formation of a caretaker government.

On 26 October 2011, the European Summit agreed to hand to the Greek government the Sixth Tranche of € 8 billion bailout early in the 2012, while the private-sector banks, the holders of Greek debt, have agreed to a 50% haircut on their outstanding Greek government bonds.
On 28 October 2011, during the national day parade, protesters blocked the parades, forcing the President of Greece and other officials to leave.
On 31 October, Papandreou announced his government's intentions to hold a referendum for the acceptance of the terms of a eurozone bailout deal. The referendum was to be held in December 2011 or January 2012. On 3 November, however, Papandreou scrapped the plan, following vehement opposition both within and outside the country. On 5 November, his government narrowly won a confidence vote in parliament.
On 6 November, Papandreou met with opposition leaders to try to reach an agreement on the formation of an interim government. A day earlier, the leader of the opposition New Democracy party Antonis Samaras had rejected the proposal and called for an immediate election.

Taking office and revelations

 

The inauguration of George Papandreou as the 182nd Prime Minister of Greece took place on 6 October 2009.
Upon inauguration, Papandreou's government revealed that its finances were far worse than previous announcements, with a year deficit of 12.7% of GDP, four times more than the eurozone's limit, and a public debt of $410 billion. This announcement served only to worsen the severe crisis the Greek economy was undergoing, with an unemployment rate of 10%,and the country's debt rating being lowered to BBB+, the lowest in the eurozone. Papandreou responded by promoting austerity measures,reducing spending, increasing taxes, freezing additional taxes and hiring and introducing measures aimed at combatting rampant tax evasion and reducing the country's public sector. The announced austerity program caused a wave of nationwide strikes and has been criticised by both the EU and the eurozone nations' finance ministers as falling short of its goals.

Party leadership

In anticipation of the 2004 national elections in Greece, polls indicated that PASOK was very likely to lose as the conservative New Democracy party was heading towards a landslide. In January 2004, the incumbent PM Costas Simitis announced his resignation as leader of PASOK, and passed the leadership to Papandreou by recommending him as the new leader.
On 8 February 2004 PASOK introduced for the first time the procedure of open primaries for the election of party leadership. Even if Papandreou had no opponent, this was a move designed to solidify the open primaries, democratise the party, and make a clean break with a tradition of “dynastic politics.”
In May 2005, Papandreou was elected Vice President of the Socialist International following a proposal by the former President, António Guterres. In January 2006, Papandreou was unanimously elected President of the Socialist International.
In the 2007 general election, PASOK again lost to the incumbent New Democracy party of Kostas Karamanlis and Papandreou’s leadership was challenged by Evangelos Venizelos and Kostas Skandalidis. Papandreou, however, retained his party's leadership at a leadership election in November.
In June 2009 and under his leadership, his party won the 2009 European Parliament election in Greece.Four months later, PASOK won the October 2009 general elections with 43.92% of the popular vote to ND's 33.48%, and 160 parliament seats to 91.

Political career.

The younger George Papandreou came to Greece after the restoration of Greek democracy in 1974. He then became active in the political party his father had founded, the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK). He joined the Central Committee of PASOK in 1984.
Papandreou was elected to the Greek Parliament in 1981, the year his father became Prime Minister, as MP for the constituency of Achaea. He became Under Secretary for Cultural Affairs in 1985, Minister of Education and Religious Affairs in 1988, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1993, Minister for Education and Religious Affairs again in 1994, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs again in 1996 and Minister of Foreign Affairs in February 1999. He was also Minister Responsible for Government Coordination for the Bid for 2004 Olympic Games in 1997.

Papandreou in 2001,  as Minister of Foreign Affairs

In his second term as Minister of Education, Papandreou was the first politician in Greece to introduce affirmative action, allocating 5% of university posts for the Muslim minority in Thrace. He was also instrumental in initiating the Open University in Greece.
Papandreou received numerous awards and honorary degrees in recognition of his work for human rights. As Foreign Minister he fostered closer relations with Turkey and Albania. He worked to solve the dispute over Cyprus. Papandreou also worked to resolve tensions regarding the Macedonia naming dispute.
In December 2003 European Voice shortlisted him for nomination of the Europeans of the Year award as "Diplomat of the Year",^[5][6] naming him as "The Bridge-Builder" and quoting Le Monde that dubbed him the "architect of Greek-Turkish rapprochement".^[7] He is a founding member of the Helsinki Citizens Assembly.

Early life and education

 

He was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, where his father, Andreas Papandreou, held a university post. His mother is American-born Margaret Papandreou, née Chant. He was educated at schools in Toronto (King City Secondary School), at Amherst College in Massachusetts (where he was a friend and dormitory roommate of fellow Greek Antonis Samaras), at Stockholm University, the London School of Economics and Harvard University. He has a bachelor of arts degree in sociology from Amherst and a Μaster's degree in sociology from the LSE. He was a researcher on immigration issues at Stockholm University in 1972–73. He was also a Fellow of the Foreign Relations Center of Harvard University in 1992–93.
In 2002 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Laws by Amherst College and in 2006 he was named Distinguished Professor in the Center for Hellenic Studies by Georgia State College of Arts and Science.
Papandreou's father studied and worked as professor of economics from 1939 to 1959. His paternal grandfather, Georgios Papandreou, was three times Prime Minister of Greece.

George Papandreou Γεώργιος Παπανδρέου MP

Georgios A. Papandreou (Greek: Γεώργιος Α. Παπανδρέου,) born 16 June 1952, commonly anglicisedto George and shortened to Yórgos in Greek, is a Greek politician who served as Prime Minister of Greece following his party's victory in the 2009 legislative election. Belonging to a political dynasty of long standing, he previously served as Minister for National Education and Religious Affairs (1988–1989 and 1994–1996) and Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1999 to 2004. Following his grandfather Georgios Papandreou and his father Andreas Papandreou, he was the third member of the Papandreou family to serve as the country's prime minister. Papandreou was leader of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) party from February 2004 until March 2012, and President of the Socialist International since January 2006. George Papandreou became the 182nd Prime Minister of Greece on 6 October 2009. He resigned on 11 November 2011 to make way for a national unity government charged with tackling theGreek government debt crisis.

Αξιοσημείωτα γεγονότα της πολιτικής του πορείας.

Ο Γιώργος Παπανδρέου ως υπουργός εξωτερικών της Ελλάδας το 2002.

Ως υπουργός Εθνικής Παιδείας θέλησε να καθιερώσει το Εθνικό Απολυτήριο^[4],το οποίο θα αντικαθιστούσε το υπάρχον απολυτήριο του Λυκείου. Ο επόμενος υπουργός Εθνικής Παιδείας, Γεράσιμος Αρσένης, ανέστειλε την εφαρμογή του θεσμού του Εθνικού Απολυτηρίου^[5].

Ως υπουργός Εξωτερικών δραστηριοποιήθηκε στην προσέγγιση και στην επίλυση των διαφορών ανάμεσα στην Ελλάδα και τηνΤουρκία. Υποστήριξε το σχέδιο Ανάν^[6] ως μια μεγάλη ευκαιρία για την επίλυση του Κυπριακού προβλήματος και πήρε πολλές ειρηνευτικές πρωτοβουλίες παγκόσμια όπως η προώθηση της ιδέας της Ολυμπιακής Εκεχειρίας.

Στις 8 Φεβρουαρίου 2004 εξελέγη, όντας ο μοναδικός υποψήφιος, πρόεδρος του ΠΑ.ΣΟ.Κ. μετά από ψηφοφορία, στην οποία συμμετείχαν περισσότεροι από 1.000.000 πολίτες, μέλη και μη του κινήματος, και προσπάθησε να προωθήσει την ανασυγκρότηση του ΠΑ.ΣΟ.Κ. Οι υποστηρικτές της πολιτικής του προσέγγισης τη θεωρούσαν σημαντική θεωρώντας ότι έφερνε νέο πολιτικό ήθος στην ελληνική πολιτική σκηνή ενώ οι επικριτές αυτής της προσέγγισης έβρισκαν πως δεν ήταν αποδεκτή στην ελληνική κοινωνία και ότι ήταν εν δυνάμει επικίνδυνη για το ΠΑ.ΣΟ.Κ.

Πρόσφατα οι Ευρωπαίοι σοσιαλιστές ηγέτες του εμπιστεύθηκαν, χωρίς να υπάρχει άλλος υποψήφιος^[7], τη θέση του προέδρου τηςΣοσιαλιστικής Διεθνούς.

Μετά την ήττα του ΠΑ.ΣΟ.Κ. στις εκλογές της 16ης Σεπτεμβρίου 2007, ο Γιώργος Παπανδρέου δήλωσε το βράδυ της ίδιας μέρας ότι θα ζητήσει την ανανέωση της εμπιστοσύνης της βάσης του κόμματος.^[8] Λίγο αργότερα ο Ευάγγελος Βενιζέλος δήλωσε εμμέσως πλην σαφώς ότι θα είναι και αυτός διεκδικητής της προεδρίας του ΠΑΣΟΚ.^[9] Ο Γ. Παπανδρέου δέχτηκε πολλές πιέσεις, τόσο από στελέχη του κόμματος, τα οποία τον πίεσαν να μην διεκδικήσει εκ νέου την προεδρία του κινήματος^[10], όσο και από τους πολίτες, οι οποίοι σύμφωνα με δημοσκοπήσεις τον θεώρησαν υπεύθυνο για το δυσμενές αποτέλεσμα των εκλογών, όμως αργότερα σε νέες δημοσκοπήσεις η δημοφιλία του επανέκαμψε.^[11][12]. Τελικά αναδείχτηκε και πάλι πρόεδρος του ΠΑΣΟΚ στις εκλογές της 11ης Νοεμβρίου, με τον Ευάγγελο Βενιζέλο να βρίσκεται στη δεύτερη θέση και τον Κώστα Σκανδαλίδη στην τρίτη.^[13]

Στις 30 Ιουνίου του 2008 επανεξελέγη ομόφωνα πρόεδρος της Σοσιαλιστικής Διεθνούς, κατά το 23ο συνέδριο της οργάνωσης.^[14]

Στις 7 Ιουνίου 2009 κέρδισε στις ευρωεκλογές με 36,64%, έναντι 32,29% της Νέας Δημοκρατίας.

Βιογραφία

Γεννήθηκε το 1952 στο Σαιντ Πωλ (St. Paul) της Μινεσότα των Ηνωμένων Πολιτειών (ΗΠΑ) και πολιτογραφήθηκε με το όνομα George Jeffrey Papandreou. Την περίοδο εκείνη ο πατέρας του, ο μετέπειτα πρωθυπουργός Ανδρέας Παπανδρέου, κατείχε πανεπιστημιακή έδρα στο Πανεπιστήμιο της Μινεσότα (University of Minnesota). Μητέρα του είναι η Μαργαρίτα Τσαντ, από το Έλμχερστ (Elmhurst) του Ιλινόι των ΗΠΑ. Είναι επίσης εγγονός του πρώην πρωθυπουργού Γεωργίου Παπανδρέου. Γενέτειρα της πολιτικής οικογενείας Παπανδρέου είναι το Καλέντζι της Αχαΐας.

Σπούδασε κοινωνιολογία στο Amherst College στη Μασαχουσέτη στις ΗΠΑ, την περίοδο 1970-1975, πήρε μεταπτυχιακόδίπλωμα στην κοινωνιολογία της ανάπτυξης στο London School of Economics, Ηνωμένο Βασίλειο (1975-1977). Έχει πραγματοποιήσει μεταπτυχιακές σπουδές στη Στοκχόλμη και παρακολούθησε μεταπτυχιακά μαθήματα στο Κέντρο Διεθνών Σχέσεων στο αμερικανικό πανεπιστήμιο Χάρβαρντ. Έχει εργαστεί στις Η.Π.Α., στη Σουηδία και στον Καναδά. Μιλάειαγγλικά, γαλλικά και σουηδικά.

Είναι παντρεμένος με την Άντα Παπαπάνου και έχει δύο παιδιά, τον Ανδρέα (από προηγούμενο γάμο με την Εύα Ζησιμίδου, 1982) και τη Μαργαρίτα-Έλενα (γενν. 1990).