MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY NEWS IN ENGLISH Thessaloniki,
June 23, 1996
TITLES
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] FORMER GREEK PRIME MINISTER ANDREAS PAPANDREOU DIED THIS MORNING
[02] THE LIFE AND TIMES OF ANDREAS PAPANDREOU
[03] PRESIDENT STEPHANOPOULOS GRIEVES DEATH OF ANDREAS PAPANDREOU
[04] ANDREAS WILL BE A HARD MAN TO FORGET, ALL POLITICAL LEADERS AGREE
[05] ANDREAS PAPANDREOU: WORKING FOR PASOK UP UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[06] FOREIGN PRESS REPORTS EXTENSIVELY ON ANDREAS
PAPANDREOU'S DEATH
NEWS IN DETAIL
[A] NATIONAL NEWS
[01] FORMER GREEK PRIME MINISTER ANDREAS PAPANDREOU
DIED THIS MORNING
Andreas Papandreou, Greece's Socialist Party leader and thrice Prime Minister, died of heart failure at 2:30 a.m. this morning in his Athens home, after a prolonged illness. He was 77 years old.
The PASOK Party Executive Bureau issued an announcement at 5:00 a.m. stating that "today Greece is mourning. The founder of our Movement, the great Greek patriot and the Leader of our people, Andreas Papandreou has passed away. The PASOK Central Committee Executive Bureau will convene in an extraordinary session at one o'clock this afternoon."
Greek Prime Minister Kostas Simitis, who is in Florence, Italy where he participated at the European Union Summit, will return in Athens this afternoon and at 6 p.m. will hold a ministerial council extraordinary meeting.
Mr. Simitis announced that "I am shaken by the sad news of Andreas Papandreou's death. The great leader is no longer alive. Yet, he leaves with us the heritage of his works, since his political path is interwoven with our country's modern history.
"His death is a national loss for Greece. PASOK will always seek in its works, documents and precepts the signs of his victorious road. All of us, with the same respect in his name, will work as a strong and united PASOK for all which he envisioned."
Since the early-morning hours, hundreds of friends and supporters gathered outside the deceased leader's home, among whom the PASOK Secretary-General Kostas Skandalides, Minister of the Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization Akis Tsohatzopoulos, Minister of National Defense Gerasimos Arsenis and others.
Mr. Papandreou's death came four days prior
to the party's fourth congress, which is scheduled for the upcoming
Thursday. According to Mr. Tylemachos Hytiris, one of the socialist
leader's closest associates, Mr. Papandreou was planning to address
the congress and, up to one hour prior to his death, was adding
the final touches on his speech.
[02] THE LIFE AND TIMES OF ANDREAS PAPANDREOU
Greece's Socialist Party (PASOK) leader Andreas Papandreou died this morning in Athens at the age of 77 after a prolonged illness.
The Harvard-educated Papandreou had been Prime Minister of Greece for almost ten years, after winning general elections three times, the first in October 1981, then in June 1985 and, his latest term, in October 1993. In January of 1996, halfway into his third term, Mr. Papandreou resigned after having stayed in the hospital for two months for lung and kidney failure. He nevertheless remained a powerful force in the Socialist Party which he presided.
Mr. Papandreou was born at the island of Chios in 1919, son of later prime minister George Papandreou and Sophia Meneiko.
A graduate of Athens University Law School, Andreas Papandreou was arrested in 1939 for his political activities during the Metaxa dictatorship and, after beign released from prison, departed for the United States.
In 1943, he earned his PhD in Economics from Harvard University and, having become an American citizen, he served with the US Navy during World War II.
Having taught as lecturer at a number of univerisities in the US, among which the University of California Berkeley, Mr. Papandreou returned to Greece in 1959 where he headed an economic development research program. One year later he was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director of the Athens Economic Research Center and Advisor to the Bank of Greece.
His first official involvement with politics came in 1964 when he was elected deputy for Achaia with the Center Union Party. In that two-year period he served as Minister to the Prime Minister's office and subsequently Alternate Coordination Minister.
Mr. Papandreou was arrested in April 1967 by the military junta only to be released eight months later and be sent to exile, first in Sweden and later in Canada. He lectured Economic Science at Stockholm University (1968-1969) and at Toronto's York University (1969-1974).
In February 1968 Mr. Papandreou founded the Panhellenic Liberation Movement (PAK) and struggled against the coup until the junta fell in July of 1974.
Andreas Papandreou returned to Greece in August 1974 when he founded the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK). During that year's elections, the party received a mere 13.5 per cent of the vote, but three years later it gathered 25 per cent, thereby giving Papandreou the spotlight as the country's main opposition party leader.
In 1981's general elections, PASOK won a landslide victory, with Papandreou becoming Prime Minister, only to repeat his success in June 1985. He held on to the Premiership post until the June 1989 elections, during which PASOK lost to the New Democracy party.
At the turn of the decade, the country was rocked by a series of scandals and Papandreou's health began to show signs of strain, having undergone open heart surgery in 1988. In July 1989 he married the Olympic Airways hostess Dimitra Liani, divorcing his American wife of 38 years Margaret Papandreou with whom he had three sons and one daughter. Also the same year, Mr. Papandreou was indicted by Parliament in connection with the $200 million Bank of Crete embezzelement scandal. He was accused of helping the embezzlement by ordering state corporations to transfer their holdings to the Bank of Crete, where the interest was allegedly skimmed off to benefit the Socialists. He was cleared of all wrongdoing in January 1992.
Andreas Papandreou bounced back in October
1993 when he began his third four-year term as prime minister.
While his charisma never eclipsed, his fragile health kept him
from exercising the active political leadership role he once had
been famous for. He was hospitalized at Athens' Onasion Cardiosurgery
Center on November 20, 1995, for lung and kidney failure and returned
to his home on March 21, 1996. Under constant medical watch, he
continued to undergo dialysis treatment every other day.
[03] PRESIDENT STEPHANOPOULOS GRIEVES DEATH
OF ANDREAS PAPANDREOU
President of Greece Kostis Stephanopoulos expressed his deep sorrow for Andreas Papandreou's death, upon being told the sad news this morning.
"His death saddens me greatly, as it saddens all Greeks," the President stated. "Andreas Papandreou was an outstanding political leader, who for many years offered his extraordinary services to the nation. I am certain that all are participating in this deep sense of sadness, friends and opponents. I want to express my most sincere condolences to his wife, children, and other relatives, as well as to the government and the PASOK party."
President Stephanopoulos' visit to Strasburg,
scheduled for tomorrow, has been cancelled.
[04] ANDREAS WILL BE A HARD MAN TO FORGET,
ALL POLITICAL LEADERS AGREE
"I am deeply shaken by the sad news of Andreas Papandreou's death," stated the Greek Prime Minister Kostas Simitis when he was told of the Socialist leader's passing away this morning.
"The great leader is no longer alive, yet he leaves to us his work as a living legacy, since his political path is interwoven with Greece's recent history. His death is a national loss for Greece," Mr. Simitis stated from Florence, where he attended the European Union leaders Summit held this weekend. The Premier will call an extraordinary session of the Ministerial Council this evening at 6 p.m.
Former President of Greece Konstantinos Karamanlis also expressed his deep sorrow and stated that "Andreas Papandreou, through his struggles, marked a long period of our national life with his dynamic personality."
Main opposition party New Democracy leader Miltiades Evert issued a written statement, remarking that "Andreas Papandreou's lengthy political presence, crowned by the creation of PASOK and his repeated rise to power, influenced the country's life. The assessment of this presence belongs to the future's history and it is certain that the void left by Andreas Papandreou's death in the political arena, as he shaped it, is irreplaceable."
Former Prime Minister Konstantinos Mitsotakis, New Democracy's honorary president, will expedite his return from Paris and proceed in making a statement upon his arrival in Athens.
Minor Opposition Party Political Spring leader Antonis Samaras stated that Mr. Papandreou "was a great leader of international dimensions who, through his strong and charismatic personality, marked an important chapter of Greece's modern political history. His death constitutes a great loss during these hard times for our country."
Communist Party (KKE) Secretary-General Aleka Paparega expressed her condolences to the family of Andreas Papandreou, the government and members of PASOK. Honorary President of KKE Harilaos Florakis also expressed his warm condolences to the Papandreou family, as well as to the government and PASOK.
Coalition Party of the Left and Progress (Synaspismos) President Nikos Konstantopoulos stated that "we salute a great political leader with feelings of sorrow, a leading political personality that has influenced the development of Greece during the past thirty years." He also expressed his condolences to Mr. Papandreou's family.
Athens Mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos stated that "Greece is mourning today," adding that Mr. Papandreou left behind a chapter of modern Greek history in which he held a central role.
"Those who adored him and those who fought
him are honoring him today," said the Mayor.
[05] ANDREAS PAPANDREOU: WORKING FOR PASOK
UP UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE
Andreas Papandreou's last rhetoric remained unfinished in the hands of his closest associates, who were with him up until one hour prior to his death during today's early morning hours.
In light of the PASOK party's upcoming fourth Congress, the Socialist leader, whose fragile health kept him immobilized in his Ekali home after a four-month hospital stay for lung and kidney failure, was working on his speech with PASOK members Tylemachos Hytiris and Nikos Athanasakis, until 1:00 a.m., one hour before he passed away in his sleep.
"His symptoms were compatible with a heart attack, which finally caused his death at 2:30 a.m., on Sunday, June 23, 1996," said a statement by the medical team treating Mr. Papandreou at home for the past few months. The statement also said that efforts to revive him failed.
"He died peacefully during the first minutes of his sleep," said Mr. Hytiris, who had served as Minister of Press and Media during Mr. Papandreou's latest term in office. Mr. Hytiris, being the last person to see the PASOK President alive, had the unpleasant task of informing the Greek President Kostis Stephanopoulos of Mr. Papandreou's death, as well as conveying the sad news to Prime Minister Kostas Simitis - currently in Italy where he attended this weekend's European Union Summit.
Mr. Papandreou's funeral will be held on Wednesday
at the Athens Metropolitan Church and the burial will take place
at the capital's First Cemetery. His casket will remain open in
the church for public worship until Wednesday.
[B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS
[06] FOREIGN PRESS REPORTS EXTENSIVELY ON ANDREAS
PAPANDREOU'S DEATH
A charismatic, striking, and, at times, mercurial leader, are the highlighted words in the foreign press obituaries on Andreas Papandreou, as the news of the Greek Socialist leader's death travelled around the world.
United States-based CNN, broadcast a special edition on the Greek leader, outlining his personal history and his rise to political power.
"Andreas Papandreou was one of the most striking personalities in Greek politics of the post war era," said the CNN report this morning.
Reuters news agency also extensively reported on Mr. Papandreou's death, characterizing him as "one of Greece's most charismatic leaders this century."
The "Voice of America" reported that although Papandreou's popular mandate decreased in the late years, he was always very much in the controlling seat since "his personal charisma held him there."
In Australia, the news of the socialist leader's death was immediately broadcast by television and radio stations, although local newspapers did not feature the story having already gone to press.
Australian state-owned "ABC TV" characterized
Mr. Papandreou as the "most significant Greek politician
in the country's post-war era," while television channel
"7" stated that the Socialist leader made Greeks throughout
the world feel proud with his patriotic stance on national matters.
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