Vincent Camilleri
On Sunday 12 December, Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis announced that he had chosen former socialist foreign minister Karolos Papoulias for the post of President of Greece, instead of nominating someone from his own conservative New Democracy Party.
In a televised address the Prime Minister pointed out that his government chose the route of consensus and understanding, stressing that every step in this direction is a victory for Greek society. “What comes first is the political progress of Greece. For some time I have underlined my belief that the political forces of the country have a duty to reach an understanding on the election of the new President of the Republic. This is dictated by respect for the institutions and common sense,” he said. He noted that the government’s choice gave priority to consensus, which was in keeping with the spirit of the Constitution and the demands of society, by putting forward a candidate that could rally the support of all parties instead of picking one of the many able and suitable candidates from within the ruling New Democracy's own ranks.
Mr Karamanlis also stressed that the future president should be a political figure, who could bring his experience, knowledge and ability acquired in the course of a long political career to the post. “Primarily, we need in the position of President a person who, in his career, has learned to synthesize and unite. A prudent and consensual president who will continue the work of Kostis Stephanopoulos who so ably served the institutions and Greece, above and beyond all parties and ideologies,” he said.
The premier stressed that these qualities are evident in the person of Karolos Papoulias, a veteran politician who served as foreign minister under successive PASOK governments. He is no longer an MP and therefore sufficiently removed from the daily grind of politics. Noting that Mr. Papoulias had proved his moderation throughout his long career and his ability to work perfectly with all the parties during his stint as chairman of Parliament's foreign affairs committee, the premier said he believed the choice to be both correct and bold. “ We have overcome party boundaries. Our goal is to serve the country,” Prime Minister Karamanlis concluded.
Last week, the Greek Parliament, composed of 300 members, elected Karolos Papoulias as the next President with a record 279 votes in his favour. All present deputies of New Democracy and the opposition Panhellenic Social Movement (PASOK) voted in favour. He will take up office on 12 March succeeding the outgoing President Costis Stephanopoulos who has served the constitutional five-year term.
Karolos Papoulias was born in the city of Ioannina on 4 June, 1929. He graduated as a lawyer from the Athens Law school and pursued postgraduate studies in Munich. He was active in the resistance against the occupation forces during World War II and took part in the struggle against the dictatorial military regime of George Papadopoulos within his organisation, The Socialist Democratic Union from his exile outside Greece. A close associate of Andreas Papandreou, the founder of the PASOK party and father of current PASOK leader George Papandreou, Mr Papoulias joined PASOK Central Committee and entered politics on returning to Greece from Germany after the fall of the dictatorship in 1974.
His first government post was with the newly-elected PASOK government of 1981, when he was appointed deputy foreign minister and he remained with the foreign ministry until 1989 when PASOK lost the elections, becoming alternate foreign minister in 1984 and foreign minister in 1985. When PASOK was re-elected in 1993, Mr Papoulias was again appointed foreign minister and remained at the head of the ministry until January 1996. A former track and field and volley ball champion, and chairman of the National Sports Association since 1985, Karolos Papoulias who speaks German, Italian and French, is married to Maria Panou and is the father of three daughters
Karolos Papoulias was in Malta with Andreas Papandreu in a PASOK delegation to a Conference of the Progressive Socialist Movements of the Mediterranean that was held in June 1977. I was assigned as liaison officer from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Greek delegation for the duration of their five-day stay on the Island. The time I spent accompanying the two Greek politicians was, and still is, one of the most memorable experiences in my diplomatic career. Andreas Papandreu was a keen swimmer and, together with Karolos Papoulias and their two Greek security officers, used to start his day with an early morning swim at Golden Bay. With the conference business over, we used to go for a daily evening stroll in Mdina, which they both loved, before winding up the day in a restaurant for a good fish supper. During those walks I was struck by the gentle disposition of both politicians.
In impeccable, soft spoken Italian Karolos Papoulias told me about his bitter experience as an exile from his own country during the repressive years of a fascist dictatorship in Greece and the struggle by Greek democratic forces to overthrow the military regime. Both Andreas Papandreu and Karolos Papoulias were keen to learn about Malta’s culture and history, particularly the political and economic development from a British military base to an Independent Republic dedicated to peace and stability in the Mediterranean, very much in line with the policy of their own PASOK. I met Karolos Papoulias again in Athens in 1985 when he was Minister of Foreign Affairs and found the same gentle and affable person I had known years before.
Announcing the nomination of Karolos Papoulias last December, the Greek Prime Minister said: “Our goal is not to impose our choices, as the majority political force. Instead, it is our duty to gain society's widest possible acceptance for the person of the President of the Republic,” Is it too much to hope that our Nationalist ruling class will learn this excellent Greek lesson on consensus? Considering last year’s missed opportunity to put all talk about consensus to practice with the nomination of a new President, this seems very unlikely.