Costas Simitis

Costas Simitis (23 June 1936 – 5 January 2025) was a Greek economist, politician and a leader of the "Modernization" movement. He was a founding member of Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) political party. He served two terms as prime minister of Greece from 1996-2004.

This article about a political figure is a stub. You can help out with Wikiquote by expanding it!

Quotes

Δεν υπάρχει τέλος της ιστορίας. Το σήμερα έχει συνέχεια το αύριο. Από εμάς τους ίδιους εξαρτάται η συνέχεια αυτή.
- There is no end of history. The present continues tomorrow. This continuation depends on us.
- "Κώστας Σημίτης: Με τιμές το τελευταίο αντίο – Οι επικήδειοι και το παρατεταμένο χειροκρότημα έξω από τη Μητρόπολη" (in el). Naftemporiki.

Our political practice followed the same track as that of the right-wing governments; many times we implemented ad hoc policies; we maintained clientelistic relations between government and voters; we made selective allocations of funds and we introduced measures benefiting specific groups. The principle governing our political practice was that the party and the government were always right and that their actions had to be justified;... we do not need attractive slogans that create rising expectations but systematic programming and well-planned action.
- Simitis' argument to break the neverending populist rhetoric of the past, during PASOK's second national congress held in September 1990.
- *Clogg, Richard, ed (1993) (in en). Greece, 1981–89: The Populist Decade. London & New York: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 41-42. ISBN 9781349230563.

Populism transfers the social problem from the plain of ideology to a level that does not disturb the status quo of social relations. The assistance of the state and the benefits derived from it is the sole objective of political struggles in Greece.
- Simitis commenting on the failed populism of Andreas Papandreou.
- Koliopoulos, John S.; Veremis, Thanos M. (2009) (in en). Modern Greece A History Since 1821. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. p. 189. ISBN 9781444314830.

Simitis is good, but he is not PASOK.
- In 1979, Andreas Papandreou commented about Simitis's capabilities but also wanted to keep him at a distance from Papandreou's party.
- Featherstone, Kevin; Papadimitriou, Dimitris (2015) (in en). Prime Ministers in Greece, The Paradox of Power. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 143. ISBN 978-0198717171.