April 8, 2004. Copyright, 2004, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Profile of Greek prime minister Costas Karamanlis
By Joanna Griffin

LONDON, April 8, Graphic News:  As he takes up his new post, Konstantinos -- known as Costas -- Karamanlis can revel in the knowledge that he has restored not a little glory to his famous family. More importantly, however, the Greek prime minister knows he has also inherited a stagnant economy and an agenda strewn with tripwires.

As nephew and namesake of the founder of the New Democracy party, Karamanlis comes to power with a certain kudos. Yet, though pundits billed his March 7 election contest with former foreign minister George Papandreou as just the latest clash between two mighty political dynasties, Karamanlis is keen to stress that his victory is a new start in all ways.

At 47, he is the youngest prime minister his country has ever had, and he has already revealed a personal style. Apparently more affable and laid-back than his namesake, Karamanlis refrained from engaging in the mudslinging characteristic of Greek election campaigns, even when Papandreou, son of former prime minister Andreas, was drafted in to head the Pasok party at the last minute. He is also unusual in that he has never served in a government post.

Born in 1956, Karamanlis studied law in Athens and the United States before taking up his first parliamentary seat for Salonika in 1989. In 1994 he became a member of the central committee of the ND, and in 1996 its leader. During eight years in opposition, he brought the centre-right New Democrats to heel, weeding out extremists and restoring discipline. He has said that his years in opposition have given him all the experience he needs to run the country.

After the ND lost narrowly to Pasok in the 2000 elections, many believed that Karamanlis would clinch it the next time. His victory marks the end of an era for the socialists who have ruled for all but three years since 1981, and Karamanlis appears aware that it reflects Greek discontent with the cronyism and arrogance that came to be associated with Pasok. After winning, he promised to form a government that would lead ÒmodestlyÓ and ÒhumblyÓ.

A wise attitude, since the tasks facing him are formidable -- with the most urgent item on his list the sorting out of the preparations for the Athens Olympics. Almost half the projects linked with the Games are behind schedule. Then there are the talks on reuniting the Greek and Turkish communities in Cyprus, which are fast approaching their May deadline. Only then will Costas Karamanlis be able to turn his governmentÕs attention to economic woes at home.

As a committed European and vice-president of the European PeopleÕs Party -- the umbrella group of right-wing parties -- since 1999, Karamanlis backs closer EU integration. It was Uncle Konstantinos who first took Greece into the then European Economic Community in 1979.

These days the only family card he plays is that of life at home with his twin son and daughter, born in 2003, and elegant blonde Natassa Pazaiti, whom he married in 1998 -- putting a reputation as a cigar-chomping playboy fond of Greek island nightlife firmly behind him.
/ENDS