Tzannis Tzannetakis

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Tzannis Tzannetakis (Greek: Τζανής Τζαννετάκης) (born September 13, 1927), Greek politician, was briefly Prime Minister of Greece during the political crisis of 1989-1990.

Tzannetakis was born in Gytheio in the region of Laconia in 1927. He served as a naval officer but resigned on April 22, 1967, the day after the military coup which brought the dictatorship of George Papadopoulos to power. He was imprisoned by the regime from 1969 to 1971.

When democracy was restored in 1974, Tzannetakis joined the New Democracy party of Constantine Karamanlis, and was elected to the Greek Parliament in 1977. Between 1977 and the defeat of the ND government in 1981 he was at various times Minister for Public Works, Tourism and Defence.

The July 1989 elections left the PASOK party of Andreas Papandreou in the minority. New Democracy (Greece), however, now led by Constantine Mitsotakis, could not form a government despite its significant lead in the popular vote, because of changes to electoral law that PASOK had voted to effect before the elections. Tzannetakis was appointed Prime Minister in a government under an unlikely alliance with the left-wing Coalition of the Left and Progress (Synaspismos), which then included the Communist Party of Greece.

Tzannetakis resigned when the Synaspismos withdrew its support in 1990. Yiannis Grivas then formed a caretaker government until fresh elections could be held. New Democracy (Greece) won these elections too, but once more could not form a government, despite tallying 46% of the vote, with PASOK coming second with 40%. An "Ecumenical" Government, headed by Xenophon Zolotas, with the participation of all three political parties (New Democracy, PASOK, Synaspismos) was formed, but fell within 4 months because of intense disagreements between its participants. New elections were held in 1990, where, for the third consecutive time within a year, New Democracy (Greece) won with a significant lead of 8% over PASOK. This time ND managed to form a government under its leader, Konstantinos Mitsotakis, hinging on a small parliamentary majority of two representatives. Tzannetakis became Deputy Prime Minister in this government, a post he held until 1993. He is still a member of the Parliament and is also active in the ND organisation.

[edit] Political career

Preceded by: Stefanos Manos	Minister for Public Works 1980–1981	Succeeded by: Athanasios Apostolos
Preceded by: Karolos Papoulias	Minister for Foreign Affairs 1989	Succeeded by: Georgios Papoulias
Preceded by: '	Minister for Tourism 1989	Succeeded by: '
Preceded by: Andreas Papandreou	Prime Minister of Greece 1989	Succeeded by: Yiannis Grivas
Preceded by: '	Minister for National Defence 1989–1990	Succeeded by: '
Preceded by: '	Minister for Tourism 1989–1990	Succeeded by: '
Preceded by: Georgios Mylonas	Minister for Culture 1990–1991	Succeeded by: Anna Psarouda-Benaki
Preceded by: '	Prime Minister of Greece 1989–1990	Succeeded by: '
Preceded by: '	Deputy Prime Minister of Greece 1990–1993	Succeeded by: '