Tzannis Tzannetakis facts for kids

Tzannis Tzannetakis (Greek: Τζαννής Τζαννετάκης) was a Greek politician. He was born on September 13, 1927, and passed away on April 1, 2010. He briefly served as the Prime Minister of Greece in 1989 during a time of political change. Before becoming a politician, he was a submarine commander in the Hellenic Navy, which is Greece's navy.

Life and Early Career

Tzannis Tzannetakis was born in 1927 in a place called Gytheio, located in the Mani region of Greece. He started his career as an officer in the military.

However, he resigned from the military on April 22, 1967. This was the day after a military group took control of the government. This period was known as the military junta or dictatorship.

Because he opposed this new government, he was put in prison. He was held from 1969 to 1971 for his actions against the dictatorship.

Joining Politics

When democracy returned to Greece in 1974, Tzannetakis decided to join politics. He became a member of the New Democracy party, which was led by Constantine Karamanlis.

From 1974 to 1977, he worked as the General Secretary for the Ministry of Tourism. He was then elected to the Greek Parliament in 1977. Later, he served as the Minister for Public Works from 1980 to 1981 in the government led by Georgios Rallis.

Becoming Prime Minister

In June 1989, Greece held a new election. The PASOK party, led by Andreas Papandreou, did not win enough votes to form a government on its own. This happened after some problems and disagreements within the government.

The New Democracy party, now led by Constantine Mitsotakis, won more votes. However, they still couldn't form a government alone. This was because of new election rules that PASOK had put in place before the election.

A Special Government

Because no single party could form a government, a special type of government was created. This was called a "coalition government." It was the first time since 1974 that different parties had to work together like this. It was also the first time since 1944 that a government included a Communist party.

This new government was formed by an alliance between the New Democracy party and a group called the Coalition of Forces of the Left and Progress (Synaspismos). This group included the Communist Party of Greece.

Their main goal was to "clean up" the government after the recent problems. They agreed that this government would be short-term. It would last only until investigations into the issues were finished.

Why Tzannetakis Was Chosen

Tzannis Tzannetakis was chosen as the Prime Minister because he was a good compromise candidate. The left-wing parties did not want Mitsotakis to be Prime Minister. However, they trusted Tzannetakis because he had stood up against the dictatorship in the past.

So, Tzannetakis became Prime Minister. He also handled two other important jobs at the same time: Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Tourism.

Important Actions

The government led by Tzannetakis was seen as a symbol of national unity. It brought together different political groups that had been divided for a long time.

One important thing this government did was to destroy all the secret police files. These files contained information about Greek citizens from the time after the Civil War.

The government also changed how television worked in Greece. Before, only the state could broadcast TV. Tzannetakis's government allowed private TV stations to start broadcasting for the first time.

After His Time as Prime Minister

As planned, the Tzannetakis government resigned in October 1989. After that, Yiannis Grivas formed a temporary government until new elections could be held.

New Democracy won these new elections, but still couldn't form a government alone. So, in November, another special government was formed. This was called an "ecumenical government" and was led by Xenophon Zolotas. It included all three main political parties.

In this Zolotas government, Tzannis Tzannetakis served as Minister for Tourism and National Defence.

Later Political Roles

In April 1990, Greece had elections for the third time in a year. This time, New Democracy (Greece) won with a clear majority. Tzannetakis then became Deputy Prime Minister in the government led by Mitsotakis. He held this position until 1993.

Tzannetakis continued to be a Member of the Greek Parliament until September 2007. At that point, he decided to retire from politics.

He passed away in an Athens hospital on April 1, 2010, at the age of 82.