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Alexis Tsipras

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Alexis Tsipras
Αλέξης Τσίπρας
MP
Prime Minister of Greece
Incumbent
Assumed office
26 January 2015
PresidentKarolos Papoulias
Preceded byAntonis Samaras
Leader of the Opposition
In office
20 June 2012 – 26 January 2015
Prime MinisterAntonis Samaras
Preceded byAntonis Samaras
Succeeded byAntonis Samaras
Leader of the Coalition of the Radical Left
Incumbent
Assumed office
4 October 2009
Preceded byAlekos Alavanos
Personal details
Born (1974-07-28) 28 July 1974 (age 50)
Athens, Greece
Political partyCoalition of the Radical Left
Domestic partnerPeristera Batziana
Children2
Alma materNational Technical University of Athens

Alexis Tsipras (Greek: Αλέξης Τσίπρας; born 28 July 1974) is a Greek politician who has been the Prime Minister of Greece since 26 January 2015, and the Leader of the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) since 2009.[1][2] He was first elected to the Hellenic Parliament in 2009, and was the Party of the European Left nominee for President of the European Commission in the 2014 European Parliament election. On 25 January 2015, Tsipras led SYRIZA to victory in a snap general election, receiving 36% of the vote and 149 out of the 300 seats in the Parliament.

Early life and career

Tsipras was born in Athens on 28 July 1974, three days after the fall of the Greek military junta. His father was born in Epirus.[3][4] His mother was born in Eleftheroupoli.[5]

He studied civil engineering at the National Technical University of Athens, graduating in 2000, before undertaking postgraduate studies in Urban and Regional Planning following an inter-departmental MPhil at the School of Architecture of NTUA. Alongside his postgraduate studies, he began working as a civil engineer in the construction industry. He wrote several studies and projects on the theme of the city of Athens.[6][7][8]

He joined the Communist Youth of Greece in the late 1980s. In the early 1990s, as a student of Ampelokipoi Branch High School, he was politically active in the student uprising against the controversial law of Education Minister Vasilis Kontogiannopoulos. He rose to prominence as a representative of the student movement when he was featured as a guest on a television show hosted by journalist Anna Panagiotarea. During the interview, Panagiotarea implied that Tsipras was being disingenuous in defending middle and high school students' right to absenteeism without parental notification. As a university student, he joined the ranks of the renovative left-wing movement, particularly the "Enceladus" (Greek: Εγκέλαδος) group, and as member of it was elected to the executive board of the students' union of the Civil Engineering School of NTUA, and also served as student representative on the University Senate. From 1995 to 1997 he was an elected member of the Central Council of the National Students Union of Greece (EFEE).[6]

Political career

After the departure of the Communist Party of Greece from Synaspismos, Tsipras remained in the party. He was the first political secretary of the youth-wing of Synaspismos Neolaia Syn from May 1999 to November 2003, and was succeeded by Tasos Koronakis. Despite the very clear radical, left-wing profile that he has maintained as Leader of Synaspismos, he was a centrist during his period of leadership in Neolaia Syn. He managed quite efficiently to maintain a strong adherence to the policy of the party, effectively outvoicing political deviants to the left and the right. As Secretary of Synaspismos Youth, he took an active part in the process of creating the Greek Social Forum and attended all of the international protests and marches against neoliberal globalization. In December 2004, at the 4th Congress of Synaspismos, he was elected a member of the party's Central Political Committee and consequently to the Political Secretariat, where he was responsible for educational and youth issues.[6]

Tsipras first entered the limelight of mainstream Greek politics during the 2006 local election when he ran for the municipality of Athens under the "Anoihti Poli" (Greek: Ανοιχτή Πόλη, "Open City") SYRIZA ticket that gained 10.51% of the Athenian vote.[6][9] He did not run for the Hellenic Parliament in the 2007 election, choosing to continue to complete his term as a member of the municipal council of Athens.

Alexis Tsipras giving his speech as a presidential candidate at the 5th Congress of Synaspismos.

He was elected Leader of Synaspismos during the 5th Congress on 10 February 2008, after previous Leader Alekos Alavanos decided not to stand again due to personal reasons.[10] Tsipras became Leader of Synaspismos at the age of 33, thus becoming the youngest ever leader of a Greek political party. In the 2009 election, he was elected to the Hellenic Parliament for Athens A and was subsequently voted unanimously to be the head of the SYRIZA parliamentary group.[1][2] Tsipras led SYRIZA through the 2012 elections, overseeing a swing of over 22% to the party, and becoming the Leader of the Opposition.

In December 2013 he was the first candidate proposed for the position of President of the Commission of the European Union by the Nordic Greens/European Left. The vote will be a EU member states election to the European Parliament in May 2014.

Tsipras was campaigning as the only candidate of the south periphery countries. At the beginning of May 2014, in a speech in Berlin, he clarified many of his positions, in opposition to the allegedly Merkel-dominated neo-liberal political course in Europe.

Tsipras in Bologna holding a speech for The Other Europe allied party.

Tsipras declared a substantial change for a better future for all Europeans is visible within 10 years. He addressed those who lost out in the fallout of the financial crises from 2008 to 2014, which produced unexpectedly high jobless rates in most of the EU. The speech was given in English to a German audience and probably intended to be listened to throughout Europe.[11]

Prime Minister of Greece

Tsipras led Syriza to victory in the general election held on 25 January 2015, falling short of an outright majority in Parliament by just two seats. The following morning, Tsipras reached an agreement with theright-wing populist Independent Greeks party to form a coalition, and he was sworn in as Prime Minister of Greece by President Karolos Papoulias. He became the youngest Prime Minister in Greek history since 1865 and the first to take a civil rather than a religious oath of office.[12]

Personal life

His domestic partner is Peristera Batziana, an electrical and computer engineer. The two met in 1987 at the Ampelokipoi Branch High School and both became members of the Communist Youth of Greece. They live together with their two sons.[13] Their youngest son's middle name is Ernesto, a tribute to Che Guevara. Tsipras is an avid football fan and, having grown up near the stadium, supports Panathinaikos, attending every home game that he can.[4] Tsipras is an atheist.[14][15]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Ανανέωση αλλά και ηχηρές απουσίες στη νέα Βουλή. ANA-MPA (in Greek). 9 October 2006. Retrieved 9 October 2009.
  2. ^ a b "Alexis Tsipras to head SYRIZA Parliamentary group". Athina 9.84 Municipal Radio. athina984.gr. 8 October 2009. Retrieved 9 October 2009.
  3. ^ "Αλέξιος Παύλου Τσίπρας : ΠΡΟΕΔΡΟΣ ΤΗΣ Κ.Ο. ΤΟΥ ΣΥΝΑΣΠΙΣΜΟΥ ΡΙΖΟΣΠΑΣΤΙΚΗΣ ΑΡΙΣΤΕΡΑΣ ΒΟΥΛΕΥΤΗΣ Α' ΑΘΗΝΩΝ" (in Greek). Hellenic Parliament. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
  4. ^ a b Andy Denwood (14 May 2012). "Profile: Alexis Tsipras, leader of Syriza". BBC News.
  5. ^ Apostolidis, Tasos (28 November 2007). Αλέξης Τσίπρας: "Καβαλιώτης" και μόλις 33 Μαΐων το φαβορί για την ηγεσία του ΣΥΝ. KavalaNet (in Greek). kavalanet.gr. Retrieved 22 May 2009.
  6. ^ a b c d "Alexis Tsipras". Synaspismos. syn.gr. Retrieved 22 May 2009.
  7. ^ Σχόλιο Γραφείου Τύπου του ΣΥΝ για τις προσωπικές επιθέσεις εναντίον του Προέδρου του ΣΥΝ – Επισύναψη επιστολών (in Greek). syn.gr. 21 November 2008. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
  8. ^ Αλέξης Τσίπρας (in Greek). enet.gr. 9 October 2009. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
  9. ^ "Coalition selects A. Tsipras for Athens mayorship". ANA-MPA. Retrieved 22 May 2009.
  10. ^ "Tsipras new SYN leader, new CPC elected". ANA-MPA. ana.gr. Retrieved 26 April 2009.
  11. ^ http://www.alexistsipras.eu/index.php/8-news/163-tsipras-to-speak-at-die-linke-party-congress-in-berlin
  12. ^ "Alexis Tsipras sworn in as new Greek prime minister". http://www.theguardian.com. Retrieved 26 January 2015. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help)
  13. ^ Έγινε πατέρας ο Αλέξης Τσίπρας (in Greek). cosmo.gr. 17 May 2010. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
  14. ^ Smith, Helena (18 September 2014). "Pope Francis the 'pontiff of the poor', says Greece's Alexis Tsipras". The Guardian. Alexis Tsipras – a radical leftist and self-described atheist
  15. ^ "Greece's far left: The company he keeps". The Economist. 4 October 2014. Mr Tsipras, an atheist
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Party political offices
Preceded by Leader of the Coalition of the Radical Left
2009–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Leader of the Opposition
2012–2015 		Succeeded by
Prime Minister of Greece
2015–present 		Incumbent

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