“In the numerous choir of truly historical personalities”, the former prime minister and president of PASOK, Kostas Simitis was “one of the most important and versatile political personalities of modern Greece”, participating in the shaping of its history from the 60s onwards. His sudden death on Sunday morning sent shockwaves through the country’s political world. His funeral will take place on Thursday, January 9, public expense, in the Holy Church of the Metropolis of Athens.
Prime Minister, university professor, resistance fighter, he always had a stable ideological, value and political identity. He was prime minister at a pivotal time for the country, from 1996 to 2004. He was the prime minister who envisioned and worked to put the country in the hard core of the EU, following EMU, the economically powerful states of the Union, immediately when the euro and the eurozone.
The image of doing withdraw the first euros from an ATM went down in history along with his statement that “The Euro means for our country, a deep cut in its economy”.
His resistance action against the junta of colonels led him to exile with a fake Italian passport. In the 60s he met his wife Dafni in Britain, with whom he stayed until the end of his life, for 63 years.
In 1970 he became a member of the PAK in Germany. Subsequently, he was one of the founding members of PASOK and contributed decisively to the formulation of the party’s founding declaration of September 3, 1974. He participated in its 1st Executive Office and 1st Central Committee. In 1981, he became Minister of Agriculture. In 1985 he assumed the Ministry of National Economy, while he was also Minister of Education, Industry, Trade.
The Succession of Andreas
The calendar showed January 18, 1996 when, after a vote by PASOK’s KO, he succeeded Andreas Papandreou as prime minister. He was one of the first PASOK officials to raise the issue of succession in PASOK, when Andreas Papandreou’s health was shaken. He did it with respect for the face of his leader and with impudence, citing above all the good of the party, the government and the country.
When the question of Andreas Papandreou’s succession was raised in the party, he was already prime minister. He openly clashed with Akis Tsochatzopoulos and demanded “clear solutions” from the Congress, threatening to resign as prime minister if he is not elected president of the ruling party. His statement caused reactions, but it took hold, after the 4th Congress of PASOK finally chose him as the new leader of the party.
Modernization
His great vision for Greece was modernization. As he himself has stated and written, it was something that troubled him for years and that he discussed extensively with acquaintances and friends, developing his reflections on the image of a state that did not always have a unified policy nor did it proceed with decisive major projects.
“Modernization has no expiration date. It is an ongoing political-social process, the object of which is determined at each specific historical moment based on our values and permanent aspirations. These are primarily the expansion of democracy, social justice, the continued expansion of individual potential, and a life of ever-less alienation and oppression.
The term “modernization” has content, social meaning and political value. It is an action tool for changing society as long as there is an oppressive past that defines the present and prevents adaptation to the future, as long as our living conditions change”, he had characteristically written.
Major projects were carried out during his prime ministership and among them the airport stands out El. Venizelos, Attiki Odos, Rio Antirio Bridge, Athens Metro, Egnatia Odos. Among the difficult moments in his career were the Imia crisis, the Ocalan case and the scandal with the crash in the Stock Exchange.
The strict prime minister
As his colleagues recount, Kostas Simitis had a black pad and wrote down what he thought should be done. He was very strict with his ministers who he didn’t think were okay with the… bloc.
One of his great political successes was the accession of Cyprus to the EU. The final night of negotiations in The Hague was long and tense. It was necessary to avoid attributing even a part of the responsibility for any failure to the Greek Cypriot side.
The imminent signing of the Accession Treaty of Cyprus, together with the exclusive assumption of blame for the non-solution by the Turkish side, would create the appropriate conditions for the resolution of the Cyprus problem, after the accession of Cyprus, with the Greek positions particularly strengthened.
The international media
The Reuters agency credits Costas Simitis with reducing inflated government spending. “However, his critics say he has not done enough to curb corruption. During his government, Simitis reduced the fiscal deficit and the public debt, so that Athens met the conditions for joining the euro zone,” the international news agency reported. The British Guardian reports that “Simitis, a low-key pragmatist, was also a committed pro-European”.
The funeral is a public expense
With honors of the acting prime minister and public expense, the funeral will take place on Thursday, January 9, at 12:00 noon in the Metropolis of Athens, while his burial will then take place in the First Cemetery. During the four-day national mourning, flags will fly at half-mast in all public buildings.
The protocol of the funeral ceremony with honors of the acting prime minister
Ceremonies from the 3 corps of the Army and three shots from a platoon, defines the protocol, among other things. Inside the cemetery, a platoon is lined up which fires three times with inert cartridges during the burial of the deceased, while military music plays the Envoy of the Flag.
Honors are paid to the deceased when leaving his home, entering and leaving the church where the funeral service will be held, and the arrival of the procession at the cemetery. Public services are operating as normal as are schools.
Source: www.enikos.gr
