July 7, 2011. Copyright 2011, Graphic News. All rights reserved

George Papandreou facing Olympian task
By Joanna Griffin

LONDON, July 7, Graphic News:  He may have swept to power as a scion of Greece's most famous political dynasty, but Prime Minister George Papandreou has had to prove his mettle not a few times since taking office -- to fellow politicians and EU leaders, as well as to ordinary Greeks fed up with his ongoing austerity measures to keep the country afloat.
 
Papandreou, 58, has survived two knife-edge votes of confidence in parliament, but his test is far from over. EU finance ministers have signed off the release of another 12 billion-euro slice of the biggest bailout of its kind, sparing Greece from default. The repercussions of the crisis on Greek society and in the political arena are harder to gauge: no one knows if Papandreou will still be at the helm if or when Greece sails into calmer waters.
 
It looked so different when his Pasok party won a decisive victory over the conservatives in October 2009, and Papandreou vowed to revive the economy and root out corruption. He has steered Greece through its worst financial crisis in decades but faced criticism with budget cuts that some say have targeted the public sector unfairly. Now many fear Greek sovereignty will be undermined as EU officials monitor a sell-off of state assets to raise 50 billion euros.
 
Although his term in office has been dramatic, Papandreou himself is considered a model of calm self-control, especially when compared with his father George and grandfather Andreas, both ex-prime ministers. As a less macho and flamboyant leader, he broke the political mould at the start, and he has tried to draw a line under the past by, for example, making transparency a hallmark of his government. Nevertheless, few would have predicted that he would end up dismantling the state projects set up by his grandfather.
 
Born in Minnesota on June 16, 1952, Papandreou grew up in the U.S. and Sweden before his family returned to Greece from exile. He entered parliament in 1981, when Pasok won a landslide victory and his father became prime minister. After stints as education and foreign minister, he became party leader in 2004, and survived two defeats at the polls and internal party turmoil before finally becoming prime minister.
 
If that indicated his stamina, it has been confirmed by his leadership since. Papandreou has said: "We are on a difficult course, a new Odyssey for Greece." It is not yet clear whether the internationalist and modernising Papandreou will manage to steer Greece into a safe harbour, or whether this Odyssey will end up with the country crashing on the rocks.
 
He is married to engineer Ada Papapanos and the couple have two children.
/ENDS