THE Anna Diamantopoulouone of the most prominent PASOK officials during the Simitis administration, but who seemed to be far from the party for the past 10 years, announced the her candidacy for the presidency.
She is the 8th candidate to enter the leadership race PASOK – Movement for Change.
Studies and first steps in politics
He was born in Kozani in 1959 and studied at the School of Civil Engineering at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
She wrote about her entry into politics: “In 1981, Andreas Papandreou asked all scientists to return to their region to contribute to the vision of change and rural revitalization. I chose to settle in Kozani with joy and passion for the new endeavor that the whole country was starting. At that time, Kozani, like the whole region of Greece, was resurrected.
I work as a freelancer, I teach at the local TEI and as an engineer I take an active part in Antonis Tritsis’ “Urban Reconstruction Operation”.
I am elected and an active member of the TEE, President of EGE Kozani, President of the Committee’s Cultural Association Supervisory Body and a founding member of three Women’s Cooperatives.
At the same time, I was elected as a member of the PASOK Prefectural Committee and a member of the Three Member Secretariat and we will spend all our energy with hundreds of comrades to achieve the major goals of change. We fight for cooperatives, for women’s participation, for citizen education, for cultural life, for culture in the villages, for socialism.
It was an extraordinary period in my life, when we were 22 years old, together with the struggle for survival, fighting together for Democracy, for new institutions, to end war conflicts civic, for social solidarity.”
In 1985, when he was just 26 years old, he was appointed rector of Kastoria. She was one of the youngest Wardens until 1986 when she took up a position as general secretary for Training and later with Youth.
He later assumed the presidency of EOMMEX, a position he held until 1993 when he assumed the position of General Secretary of Industry.
From Kozani to Brussels
In 1996 he was elected MP for Kozani. A Deputy Minister of Development was appointed with responsibility for privatization and industrial restructuring.
She remained in this position until she was elected Commissioner in the Commission with responsibility for employment and social issues, in the period 1999-2004.
Presence in Parliament and PASOK government participation
After returning to Greece, she was elected as an MP with PASOK as the main opposition party. He has managed the “shadow” portfolios of International Relations and Defence, and Development. In the 2007 elections, she led PASOK’s political program and until October 2009 was PASOK’s political officer for Education and Member of Parliament for Athens.
In the elections of 4 October 2009 he was re-elected as Member of Parliament for Athens and on 7 October he was sworn in as Minister of Education, Lifelong Learning and Religious Affairs in the government of George Papandreou.
Crisis 2012 and beyond
She retained her position as Minister of Education in the government of Loukas Papadimos in 2011. In March 2012, she took over the Ministry of Development, Competitiveness and Shipping.
He was not re-elected in the parliamentary elections of May 2012 and June 2012. Since then he began to move away from political life and the party.
In recent years, it has been strongly suggested that she seems to be closer to ND and Kyriakos Mitsotakis, than to PASOK, although she denies it herself.
The smell of Europe
He was the president of the Committee of the European Socialist Party for the European aspect of social Europe and has an active participation in European processes and debates. He is also the President of the NETWORK for Reform in Greece and Europe, an independent non-profit research and policy organization based in Athens.
She is married to Yannis Savalanos, with whom they have a son, Haridimos