This Sunday he died at the age of 88. former Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitiswho led the Government between 1996 and 2004 and was also one of the founders of the historic Panhellenic Socialist Party, created after the military dictatorship, in 1974.
Simitis died at his country house in Agioi Theodoroi, in the Corinth region. He was admitted to the Corinto Hospital at 7:31 a.m. already unconscious and his death was certified at 8:10 a.m. after the unsuccessful resuscitation attemptsreports the Greek news agency AMNA.
Simitis’s funeral will be held next Thursday, January 9in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens at 12:00 p.m.
The current prime minister, the conservative Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has highlighted that Simitis was “a valuable and noble political rival” and has expressed respect for his political achievements as a “moderate.”
“He was a competent university professor, a moderate parliamentarian, but above all he was a catalyst of public life and made enormous efforts to modernize the country,” Mitsotakis highlighted.
Also the current leader of PASOK, now PASOK-Movement for Change, Nikos Androulakis, has valued the historical character of Simitis for its “great political legacy“. He was a “visionary” and “Europeanist.”
He was born on June 22, 1936 and studied Law and Economics in Germany and the United Kingdom. Before becoming prime minister, he held several ministerial portfolios and finally assumed the leadership of PASOK and the Government in 1996, after relieve Andreas Papandreou.
Among the most notable measures of his mandate are the economic reforms and for fiscal stability, privatizations, key changes to align with EU policies and entry into the euro. He also moderated foreign policy and modernized the economy and society. With Simitis at the helm, PASOK won the 2000 elections.
#Costas #Simitis #Greek #Prime #Minister #founders #historic #PASOK #dies
