Fletcher graduate is new Prime Minister of Greece

Costas Karamanlis (F '82 MALD, F '84 PhD) was elected prime minister of Greece in a landslide victory on Sunday and will be sworn in tomorrow.

In an election that was characterized by frustration over the current government, the 47-year old Karamanlis gained a strong foothold in the Greek parliament with control of 165 of the 300 seats.

Fletcher professor George Prevelakis said the election was "not a surprise victory, what was surprising was the extent."

Prevelakis is the Constantine Karamanlis Professor in Hellenic and Southeastern European Studies. The chair is endowed by the new prime minister's uncle, himself a previous Greek prime minister.

Karamanlis beat his opponents by a five-point margin, giving him a predominant parliament position and what Prevelakis called a "clear mandate" for the next four years.

Karamanlis' policy focus, according to Prevelakis, is to fight corruption, stabilize the country's economy and prepare for the 2004 Olympics in Athens this summer.

Karamanlis's New Democracy party will place an effort on foreign investment according to Fletcher professor Alan Henrickson, who has kept in touch with Karamanlis. "The party puts more of an emphasis on private enterprise and on the encouragement of foreign investment in Greece, which Greece can effectively use."

Henrickson worked with Karamanlis on his dissertation on Greek foreign policy during the years 1928-1932 and how a Greek leader could improve relations with all of his neighboring countries.

Though the election marks the first shift from a socialist to conservative government in Greece for a decade, economics professor Yannis Ioannides said the differences are only nominal. "Parties really differ very little in real positions in terms of ideology."

He said the election was related to fatigue of the electorate with the old government. The previous government oversaw Greece's incorporation into the European Union, which brought about big economic change, good and bad.

In an attempt to stop an inflation problem, the government caused a rise in unemployment. "They had to impose unpopular policies but they had to do it," Ioannides said. "It was a political accomplishment."

Though this was necessary, "the appeal of opposition was essentially that we have to try a new way of doing things, times called for new way," Ioannides said.

Ioannides said though this may mark the beginning of a new set of national policies, a fundamental block to this is the familial nature of Greek politics. "The good news is younger people, the bad news -- it's same names tossed about."

"I saw him as a person of promise who wanted to go back into the political arena in his country," Fletcher professor Robert Pfaltzgraff said of his former student. "I did not assume he would be prime minister, but I knew he would be an important figure in the future of Greek politics."

-Daniela Perdomo contributed to this article