Vangelis Meimarakis
| Vangelis Meimarakis Βαγγέλης Μεϊμαράκης |
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| Leader of the Opposition | |
| Assumed office 5 July 2015 |
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| Prime Minister | Alexis Tsipras |
| Preceded by | Antonis Samaras |
| President of New Democracy Acting |
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| Assumed office 5 July 2015 |
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| Deputy | Stavros Dimas Dimitris Avramopoulos |
| Preceded by | Antonis Samaras |
| Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament | |
| In office 29 June 2012 – 6 February 2015 |
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| Preceded by | Vyron Polydoras |
| Succeeded by | Zoi Konstantopoulou |
| Minister for National Defense | |
| In office 15 February 2006 – 7 October 2009 |
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| Prime Minister | Kostas Karamanlis |
| Preceded by | Spilios Spiliotopoulos |
| Succeeded by | Evangelos Venizelos |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Evangelos Meimarakis 14 December 1953 Athens, Greece |
| Political party | New Democracy |
| Spouse(s) | Ioanna Kolokota |
| Children | Two |
| Alma mater | University of Athens Panteion University |
| Religion | Greek Orthodox |
Evangelos-Vasileios "Vangelis" Meimarakis (Greek: Ευάγγελος-Βασίλειος "Βαγγέλης" Μεϊμαράκης, Greek pronunciation: [eˌvaɲɟelos vaˌsiʎos vaɲˌɟelis meimaˈracis]; born 14 December 1953), is a Greek lawyer and politician who has been the acting leader of New Democracy and Leader of the Opposition in Greece since 5 July 2015.
He has previously served as the Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament from 2012 to 2014 and as Minister for National Defence from 2006 to 2009. He has been a Member of the Hellenic Parliament for Athens B since 1989.
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Early life and education[edit]
Meimarakis was born in Athens and is of Cretan descent. Meimarakis's father was a Member of the Hellenic Parliament representing Heraklion.[1]
Meimarakis joined New Democracy in 1974 as a student at Panteion University. That year, he helped found the Youth Organisation of New Democracy (ONNED).[1]
Political career[edit]
He was appointed chairman of the ONNED Executive Committee in 1984, and led the organisation to its 1st Conference in March 1987. He has been a member of the New Democracy Central Committee since the 2nd Party Conference in 1986.[2]
He was first elected as a New Democracy Member of the Hellenic Parliament representing Athens B in the general elections of 1989 (June and November). He has since been reelected in 1990, 1993, 1996 and 2000.
Meimarakis was one of New Democracy's parliamentary representatives from 1991 to 1992.[1][2] He served as Deputy Minister for Sports from 1992 to 1993. In March 2001, at New Democracy's 5th Conference, he was elected as Secretary of the Central Committee, the first person to hold this role. He was reelected as Secretary in July 2004, and remained in this role until 15 February 2006, when he was appointed as the Minister for National Defense in the First Cabinet of Kostas Karamanlis.[2]
On 29 June 2012 he became Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament, a position he held until the next Parliament was elected in January 2015.
In July 2015, Antonis Samaras resigned as leader of New Democracy following the 'No' vote in the bailout referendum. Meimarakis took over from Samaras as an interim leader.[3] In this capacity he led the party into the snap election on 20 September 2015, at which New Democracy were defeated for a second time in nine months by SYRIZA. Meimarakis did however succeed in slightly increasing the ND vote share from 27.8% to 28.1%. Despite this, their seat tally dropped from 76 to 75.[4]
Meimarakis is seen as down-to-earth, with Vassilis Monastiriotis of the London School of Economics commenting that he appeals to: "a broad cross-section: both working-class voters, who see him as a man of the people, and the traditional higher-income New Democracy supporters, who see him as a cunning operator able to hit Tsipras below the belt".[3]
Personal life[edit]
He is married to Ioanna Kolokota, the daughter of Greek actress Nitsa Marouda, and they have two daughters.[1] He is fluent in Greek as well as English.[2]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d "Vangelis Meimarakis: New Democracy leader takes Greece back". BBC News. 14 September 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
- ^ a b c d "Evangelos Meimarakis CV" (PDF). Meimarakis. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
- ^ a b Henley, Jon (19 September 2015). "Vangelis Meimarakis charms Greek voters: 'He’s not new, but he’s genuine'". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
- ^ "Major win for SYRIZA with 7.5-point lead over New Democracy". Vima. 21 September 2015. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
External links[edit]
- Terms of office of Vangelis Meimarakis at the Hellenic Parliament (English)
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Spilios Spiliotopoulos |
Minister for Defense 2006–2009 |
Succeeded by Evangelos Venizelos |
| Preceded by Vyron Polydoras |
Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament 2012–2015 |
Succeeded by Zoi Konstantopoulou |
| Preceded by Antonis Samaras |
Leader of the Opposition 2015–present |
Incumbent |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Antonis Samaras |
President of New Democracy Acting 2015–present |
Incumbent |
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- 1953 births
- Greek lawyers
- Greek MPs 1989 (June–November)
- Greek MPs 1989–90
- Greek MPs 1990–93
- Greek MPs 1993–96
- Greek MPs 1996–2000
- Greek MPs 2000–04
- Greek MPs 2004–07
- Greek MPs 2007–09
- Greek MPs 2009–12
- Greek MPs 2012 (May)
- Greek MPs 2012–14
- Greek MPs 2015 (February–August)
- Living people
- Ministers of National Defence of Greece
- National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni
- New Democracy (Greece) politicians
- Panteion University alumni
- People from Athens
- Speakers of the Hellenic Parliament
- Greek MPs 2015–
