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Kostas Karamanlis

Kostas Karamanlis
Κώστας Καραμανλής
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Prime Minister of Greece
In office
10 March 2004 – 6 October 2009
President Konstantinos Stephanopoulos
Karolos Papoulias
Preceded by Costas Simitis
Succeeded by George Papandreou
Minister for Culture
In office
10 March 2004 – 15 February 2006
Preceded by Evangelos Venizelos
Succeeded by Georgios Voulgarakis
Leader of New Democracy
In office
21 March 1997 – 30 November 2009
Preceded by Miltiadis Evert
Succeeded by Antonis Samaras
Leader of the Opposition
In office
21 March 1997 – 10 March 2004
Preceded by Miltiadis Evert
Succeeded by George Papandreou
Personal details
Born Konstantinos Karamanlis
(1956-09-14) 14 September 1956 (age 60)
Athens, Greece
Political party New Democracy
Spouse(s) Natasa Pazaïti (1998–present)
Children Alexandros
Aliki
Alma mater University of Athens
Tufts University
Religion Greek Orthodoxy

Konstantinos Alexandrou Karamanlis (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Αλεξάνδρου Καραμανλής; born 14 September 1956), commonly known as Kostas Karamanlis (Greek: Κώστας Καραμανλής, pronounced [ˈkostas karamanˈlis]), is a Greek politician who served as Prime Minister of Greece from 2004 to 2009. He was also president of the centre-right New Democracy party, founded by his uncle Konstantinos Karamanlis, from 1997 to 2009, and he is currently a member of the Hellenic Parliament.

Karamanlis was first elected as a member of the Hellenic Parliament for New Democracy in 1989 and became president of the party in 1997. After leading the opposition in the Hellenic Parliament for seven years and his narrow defeat in the 2000 parliamentary election, he served as the 181st Prime Minister of Greece for two consecutive terms, winning the 2004 election, with an all-time record number of votes, and again in 2007. However, he asked for mid-term general elections in 2009, as his party enjoyed a narrow parliamentary majority that could not guarantee a stable government needed to handle the Greek financial crisis. Eventually, Karamanlis was defeated and resigned as president of New Democracy after twelve years as the party's leader, being active in politics though as a member of the parliament.


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