Konstantinos Mitsotakis

Konstantinos Mitsotakis (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Μητσοτάκης, romanized: Konstantínos Mitsotákis, IPA: [konsta(n)ˈdinos mit͡soˈtacis]; 31 October [O.S. 18 October] 1918 – 29 May 2017) was a Greek liberal politician and statesman. He served as prime minister of Greece from 1990 to 1993.^[3]

Konstantinos Mitsotakis
Κωνσταντίνος Μητσοτάκης
Mitsotakis in 1992
Prime Minister of Greece
In office 11 April 1990 – 13 October 1993
President	Christos Sartzetakis Konstantinos Karamanlis
Preceded by	Xenophon Zolotas (interim)
Succeeded by	Andreas Papandreou
President of New Democracy
In office 1 September 1984 – 3 November 1993
Preceded by	Evangelos Averoff
Succeeded by	Miltiadis Evert
Ministerial offices 1992 Foreign Affairs 1991–1993 Aegean 1980–1981 Foreign Affairs 1978–1980 Coordination 1965–1966 Coordination 1965 Finance 1964–1965 Finance 1963 Finance
Member of the Hellenic Parliament
In office 20 November 1977 – 18 February 2004
In office 31 March 1946 – 21 April 1967
Constituency	Chania
Personal details
Born	(1918-10-18)18 October 1918 Halepa, Kingdom of Greece
Died	29 May 2017(2017-05-29) (aged 98) Athens, Greece
Political party	Liberal (1946–1961) Centre Union (1961–1974) Independent (1974–1977) New Liberal (1977–1978) New Democracy (1978–2017)
Spouse	Marika Giannoukou ​ ​ (m. 1953; died 2012)​
Children	Dora Alexandra Katerina Kyriakos
Alma mater	University of Athens
Awards	Australia Companion of the Order of Australia (Honorary) (6 January 1992)[1] Finland Grand Cross of the Order of the Holy Lamb (10 May 1991)[2] Military Order of Christ[i] Order of Merit of the Italian Republic[i] Order of Makarios III[i]
Signature
Website	K. Mitsotakis Foundation
Military service
Branch/service	Greek Army

Born in Chania, Crete, he came from a politically prominent family related to Eleftherios Venizelos. Mitsotakis graduated in law and economics from the University of Athens. He joined politics in 1946 as a member of the Liberal Party. During the 1950s and 1960s, he held several ministerial posts. He joined Center Union party in 1961 and he was regarded as a potential candidate for the party's leadership by 1965. However, he crossed party lines against Prime Minister Georgios Papandreou and his son Andreas Papandreou in the Iouliana of 1965, which made him a controversial figure for decades. After the fall of the Greek junta in 1974, Mitsotakis worked to rebuild his political reputation, and in 1978, joined the political party of Konstantinos Karamanlis, New Democracy. He rose to its leadership in 1984, standing out as one of the few most experienced^[ii] politicians capable of confronting the populist Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou. Their rivalry deeply polarized Greek society, cumulating in the "catharsis" era (1989), when Andreas was indicted in connection with the Koskotas scandal.

Coming to power in 1990, Mitsotakis implemented an austerity program combined with policies of economic liberalization and privatization in an effort to reverse the economic divergence of the previous decade and steer Greece toward meeting the Euro convergence criteria. His government also improved relations with neighboring countries and United States. However, his tenure was marred by political instability and internal party conflicts, one which was the handling of the Macedonia naming dispute, that led to his resignation in 1993.

Mitsotakis remained an influential figure in Greek public life even after leaving office, spanning 58 years of active political career. In 2017, He died at the age of 98. His son, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, was elected as the prime minister of Greece in 2019.

Personal life and family

Mitsotakis was born on 31 October 1918^[4] in Halepa suburb of Chania, Crete, into an influential political family, linked to the distinguished statesman Eleftherios Venizelos. His grandfather Kostis Mitsotakis [el] (1845–1898), a lawyer, journalist, and short-time member of parliament (MP) of then Ottoman-ruled Crete, founded the "Party of the Barefeet" (Greek: Κόμμα των Ξυπόλητων) with Venizelos that later became Liberal Party. Kostis married Venizelos' sister, Katigo Venizelou, Konstantine's grandmother. Mitsotakis father Kyriakos Mitsotakis (senior) [el] (1883–1944), also MP for Chania in the Greek Parliament (1915–20) and leader of the Cretan volunteers fighting with the Greek army in the First Balkan War, married Stavroula Ploumidaki. Stavroula was the daughter of Charalambos Ploumidakis [el] (1866–1943), who was cousin of Eleftherios Venizelos and the first Christian mayor of Chania and an MP at the time of the Cretan State.

He studied law at the University of Athens using funds from a bequest established for his education by Eleftherios Venizelos. Mitsotakis was married to Marika Mitsotakis (née Giannoukou) from 1953 until her death on 6 May 2012.^[5] They had four children, two of which, Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Dora Bakoyannis, have notable political careers.

Mitsotakis developed a large collection of Minoan and other Cretan antiquities, which he and his wife donated to the Greek state.^{[citation needed]} He promoted the reforestation efforts across Greece, in particular the mountains of Crete.^{[citation needed]}

Main members of the Venizelos/Mitsotakis family. Prime Ministers of Greece are highlighted in light blue.

Kyriakos Venizelos [la] (?–1883) Styliani Ploumidaki (1830–1897) Eleftherios Venizelos (1864–1936) Katingo Venizelou (1858–1934) Constantine "Costis" Mitsotakis [el] (1845–1898) Kyriakos Venizelos [el] (1892–1942) Sofoklis Venizelos (1894–1964) Kyriakos Mitsotakis [el] (1892–1942) Stavroula Ploumidaki (1896–1983) Nikitas Venizelos (1930–2020) Konstantinos Mitsotakis (1918–2017) Marika Giannoukou (1930–2012) Pavlos Bakoyannis (1935–1989) Dora Bakoyanni née Mitsotaki (b. 1954) Kyriakos Mitsotakis (b. 1968) Kostas Bakoyannis (b. 1978)

Resistance activities

Shortly before the outbreak of the World War II, he enlisted in the Infantry Reserve Officers' School on the island of Syros. With the onset of war, he joined the army and fought as a reserve second lieutenant in Macedonia (Greece) against the German invasion of Greece, remaining on the front line for a month and a half. During the retreat, he moved south.

During the German occupation, Mitsotakis joined the resistance and played a key role as a negotiator among its various ideologically divided groups. He was involved in the intelligence network "Pentadyma" (Greek: Πεντάδυμα), linking Allied envoys with anti-Nazi officers. Later on, he intensified his activity by aiming to encourage German soldiers to defect to the Allied side. For his resistance activities, he was imprisoned twice by the Germans.

For his service, he received medals from both Greece and Britain. Following the German surrender, he served as a liaison between the British intelligence service and the Greek military administration.

Political career

Early political career and Center Union (1946–1967)

Mitsotakis was elected to the Greek Parliament for the first time in 1946, standing for the Liberal Party in his native prefecture of Chania. In February 1951, he assumed the position of Deputy Minister of Finance under the government of Sofoklis Venizelos for ten months.^[6]

In 1961, he joined into Georgios Papandreou's Center Union, as several members of the Liberal Party did.^[6] He took the Ministry of Finance. In the meantime, the son of Georgios Papandreou, Andreas Papandreou, who had joined Greek politics after 23 years in the United States as a prominent academic,^[7] was campaigning by having fierce anti-monarchy and anti-American rhetoric, destabilizing the fragile political equilibrium and becoming the leader of the party's left-wing.^[8][9] However, Papandreou's rapid ascension, orchestrated by his father, created displeasure among Center Union party members.^[10][11] After the death of Sofoklis Venizelos, Mitsotakis became the main antagonist of Andreas for the Center Union leadership.^[12] In 1965, Mitsotakis, raised nepotism concerns in a newspaper interview, "leadership... is neither bestowed nor is it inherited,"^[13] marking the beginning of long-term political rivalry between the two men with serious national consequences.^[14]

During the Iouliana crisis of 1965, Mitsotakis was among 45 MPs who crossed party lines by siding with the king, further intensifying the growing political polarization.^[15] Papandreou loyalists branded this group the "apostates," a label that captured the deep divisions of the period. Although Mitsotakis's political career survived the aftermath of the crisis, he carried the stigma for decades, as opponents repeatedly invoked it to question his credibility and integrity.^[6] In the mid-1980s, Andreas revived this memory during election campaigns, portraying Mitsotakis as a traitor and blaming him for Iouliana that led to the Greek junta.^[14]

Exile (1967–1974)

He was arrested in 1967 by the military junta but managed to escape to Turkey with a help of Turkish foreign minister İhsan Sabri Çağlayangil. He lived in exile with his family in Paris, France, until his return to Greece in 1974, following the restoration of democracy.

Return to Greece (1974–1984)

Konstantinos Mitsotakis addressed in the United Nations 35th session in 28/9/1980 as the Foreign Minister of Greece

In 1974, he campaigned as an independent and failed to be elected to Parliament. He was re-elected in 1977 as founder and leader of Party of New Liberals. While the his party got 1% of the national vote, its votes were concentrated at Chania, an area with strong Venizelist support, earning two seats.^[16] In 1978, he merged his party with Konstantinos Karamanlis' New Democracy (ND) as part of Karamanlis' effort to broaden the ND's appeal toward the political centre.^[16] He served as Minister for Coordination from 1978 to 1980, and as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1980 to 1981.

Karamanlis became President of Greece in 1980, leaving a power vacuum in the upcoming elections of 1981.^[17] Georgios Rallis succeeded him as leader, but failed to counter the rising popularity of charismatic Papandreou. The ND government was defeated by Papandreou's PASOK in 1981. On the same day, ND was also defeated in the first Greek election to the European Parliament. These setbacks led the party to elect Evangelos Averoff, former Minister for National Defence, as the new leader of ND.

Papandreou's PASOK started to implemented an ambitious social, economic, and foreign agenda, whose early successes raised concern within ND. In 1984 European Parliament election, ND increased its share of the vote by 7% but still unable to displace PASOK into second place.^[14] The defeat prompted Averoff to resign as party leader.^[14]

Leading New Democracy party (1984–1989)

In 1984 Mitsotakis succeeded Evangelos Averoff as ND leader. He and Andreas Papandreou, the son of Georgios Papandreou, dominated Greek politics for the next decade: their mutual dislike dated back to the fall of Georgios Papandreou's government in 1965.

In September 1984, following the resignation of New Democracy leader Evangelos Averoff, Mitsotakis was elected as the party's new leader.^[18] He launched a series of structural reforms aimed at modernizing the party. However, before these changes could take effect, Mitsotakis, as leader of the opposition, found himself confronting Papandreou in the first constitutional crisis of the republic.

Constitutional crisis (1985)

Main articles: 1985 Greek constitutional crisis and 1985 Greek presidential election

Presidents of the Hellenic Republic, Konstantinos Karamanlis (left) and Christos Sartzetakis (right).

In March of 1985, Papandreou provoked a constitutional crisis by denying Karamanlis a second presidential term and instead supporting Supreme Court justice Christos Sartzetakis.^[19] At the same time, he proposed constitutional amendments aimed at increasing the power of his position by weakening the presidential powers, which had served as checks and balances on the executive branch.^[20][21][22] Karamanlis resigned two weeks before the termination of his term, and acting president Ioannis Alevras of PASOK took over.^[23] Mitsotakis was quick to accuse Papandreou of creating a constitutional crisis to remove Karamanlis from office to establish a totalitarian constitution;^[24] an observation that was adopted by constitutional scholars in subsequent analysis of the events.^[iii]

The election of the new president took place under a tense and confrontational atmosphere due to Papandreou's dubious constitutional procedures.^[25] Mitsotakis accused Papandreou of violating constitutional principle of secret ballot (Article 32),^[26] by forcing his deputies to cast their vote with colored ballots.^[25][27] However, Mitsotakis' concern was dismissed because PASOK controlled the majority in the Parliament.^[25] Mitsotakis and Papandreou ended up having a verbal confrontation. Mitsotakis claimed Papandreou had no respect for the Parliament, and Papandreou responded, with Mitsotakis' role in the Iouliana in mind, that the latter was the last person entitled to speak about respect.^[25]

Sartzetakis was elected in the third round with Alevras casting the decisive vote. Mitsotakis considered the vote illegal and claimed that if New Democracy won the upcoming elections, Sartzetakis would not be president by bringing the legality of the process to Council of State (Greek: Συμβούλιο Επικρατείας), further deepening the constitutional crisis.^[28][27]

Polarized 1985 elections

Main article: 1985 Greek parliamentary election

Both parties continued their confrontations over the constitutional crisis in their election campaigns, where the political polarization reached new heights.^[29] On one hand, Mitsotakis declared, "In voting, the Greek people will also be voting for a president"^[30] and warned the danger of sliding towards an authoritarian one-party state.^[31] One the other hand, Papandreou characterized the upcoming elections as a fight between light and darkness in his rallies, implying that PASOK represented the "forces of light" since its logo was a rising sun.^[32] He further argued that every vote against PASOK was a vote for the return of the Right with the slogan "Vote PASOK to prevent a return of the Right."^[33] The communists, persecuted by the Right in the 1950s, protested against Papandreou's dwelling on the past, pointing out that the 1980s were not the same as the 1950s.^[33] Before the elections, Karamanlis cautioned voters that PASOK had brought "confusion and uncertainty," but his statement was withheld from state-controlled media.^[34]

In the election, New Democracy raised its vote share by 4.98%, reaching 40.84%, however, this gain was insufficient, as PASOK’s losses were minimal—only about 2.3% compared to 1981—allowing PASOK to be re-elected with 45.82% of the vote.^[35] Historian, Richard Clogg argued that the large-scale rally by Mitsotakis on 2 June at Syntagma Square may have panicked communists to vote for PASOK, effectively erasing any gains by centrists defecting from PASOK.^[36][37]

Mitsotakis accepted Sartzetakis as president after his defeat.^[38] Papandreou's constitutional changes were enacted in 1986, consolidating power in the office of the prime minister.^[39]

Leadership speculations and fracture

Despite ND's increased share of the vote, PASOK's 5% lead, combined with concerns over the party’s two consecutive electoral defeats (in 1981 under Georgios Rallis and in 1985 under Mitsotakis), sparked doubts among ND's old guard about Mitsotakis's future as party leader. Facing internal dissent, Mitsotakis resigned in 1985 but later stood unopposed for re-election at the party congress, winning the backing of 82 of ND's 126 deputies, 11 more than in 1984.^[40] His former rival for the leadership, Konstantinos Stephanopoulos, abstained from the vote and subsequently left ND to establish a new political party, Democratic Renewal, taking nine MPs with him. Stephanopoulos criticized the ND leadership for its weak campaign performance in 1985 and for appearing to prioritize the interests of employers over those of workers.^[40]

Unholy alliance

The dominance of Papandreou in the elections of 1985 caused frustration in the communist parties, Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and Eurocommunists, who lost significant electoral share.^[41] Moreover, there was growing resentment towards PASOK for its authoritarian practices and monopoly of power, while at the same time utilized the Left's ideology and voting power.^[42] In the local elections of October 1986, KKE party chose not to support candidates of PASOK in the three major municipalities (Athens, Piraeus, and Thessaloniki), which provided an opportunity for ND to obtain a new power basis to challenge PASOK.^[43] PASOK described this unannounced collaboration as "unholy alliance."^[44]

Catharsis (1989–1990)

Four Greek politicians (L-R: Leonidas Kyrkos, Charilaos Florakis, Mitsotakis, Konstantinos Stephanopoulos) discuss a time after the Papandreou indictment for the Koskotas scandal. Papandreou called them the "gang of four."

In the June 1989 election, Mitsotakis defeated Papandreou, owing much to the Koskotas scandal.^[45] However, no single political party formed a government on its own, a consequence of Papandreou's electoral law change just before the elections that was intended to prevent the opposition from coming to power. The political gridlock led to an unexpected collaboration between conservative New Democracy and leftist parties under Synaspismos, led by Charilaos Florakis, to form a government with a limited mandate to carry out the investigations into PASOK's scandals that became known as "catharsis." This collaboration was extraordinary for Greek society since they were on opposite sides in the Greek civil war (1946–1949) and signaled the end of military interference in politics.^[46][47][48] The decision by Mitsotakis and Florakis carried additional responsibility because if charges weren't filed against Papandreou during this term, future prosecutions would be impossible according to the constitution.^[49][50]

The transitional collaborative government was led by Tzannis Tzannetakis (2 July–12 October) and initiated parliamentary investigations that led to the indictment of Papandreou and four of his ministers in connection to the Koskotas scandal (29 September 1989).^[51] It also granted the first private television broadcast licenses to publishers critical of PASOK as a counterbalance to state media to avoid future political exploitation from any future omnipotent prime minister.^[52] The government was soon dissolved after the indictments.^[51]

Political polarization peaked five weeks before the scheduled elections of November 1989, when the Greek parliament was set to begin deliberations on whether Papandreou and four of his ministers^[53][54] should be indicted. On this day, 26 September 1989, just hours before deliberations were to start, Pavlos Bakoyannis (son-in-law of Mitsotakis), a prominent conservative member of parliament and the architect of collaboration between the left and right wings for Papandreou's indictment, was shot by 17 November terrorist group outside his office in Athens.^[55][56] Both major political parties, New Democracy and PASOK, blamed each other for the assassination.^[57] On 22 October, there was an assassination attempt against Mitsotakis hours before addressing his supporters in Mytilini on the island of Lesbos.^[58]

After the indictments, the collaborative government dissolved on 7 October, and a caretaker government under Ioannis Grivas took over until the elections on 5 November.^[59][60] In the November 1989 elections, New Democracy rose to 46% but still could form a government. A National unity government was then formed by New Democracy, PASOK, and Synaspismos under 85-year-old former banker Xenophon Zolotas to break the deadlock and restore public trust. Zolotas resigned in April 1990, unable to reverse the economic decline attributed to Papandreou's earlier policies.^[46] In the April 1990 elections, Mitsotakis was able to form government with the support of a single MP from Democratic Renewal.^[46]

Prime Minister (1990–1993)

(Left) Greek inflation (%) in 1974–2000 period. In 1987, Papandreou abandoned the austerity measures (the dotted line estimates inflation if he had not) and delayed the convergence of the Greek economy with EEC criteria by more than four years. The 1980–2000 dataset is from the International Monetary Fund website , the 1974–1979 dataset is from the AMECO Database . (Right) Greek debt over GDP (%) in the 1974–2000 period. In 1981, Papandreou changed the course of the economy by making it more dependable on foreign borrowing. The dataset is from the International Monetary Fund website . The colored regions approximately highlight the prime minister's reigns; for 1989–1990, there was no stable government due to Papandreou's change in electoral law.

Mitsotakis with Spanish Prime Minister Felipe González in 1990

Mitsotakis with Turkish Prime Minister Süleyman Demirel with in the World Economic Forum in Davos, on 1 February 1992.

Economy

Mitsotakis' government, after taking office, introduced a series of austerity measures (following the footsteps of Costas Simitis in 1985–7) to tame the chronic budget deficits and high inflation rates, both necessary to meet the Euro convergence criteria.^[60] His government also repealed the wage price index, which kept people's incomes high while fueling inflation, and it was PASOK's popular law among wage earners since 1982 when it was first introduced.^[61] Certain areas, such as banking, were deregulated to attract capital.^[62] Mitsotakis' government sold or liquidated 44 companies controlled by the "Industrial Reconstruction Organisation," which was created by PASOK and was designed to assist failed firms in recovery.^[63] While the Greek economy started to recover towards meeting the Euro convergence criteria, austerity policies caused significant frustration on the Greek voters.^[64] Moreover, Mitsotakis lacked the political capital to impose the necessary fiscal disciple,^[60] causing friction with ND populists members, who wished to swell their patronage appointments as Papandreou did.^[65]

Social reforms

In social policy family benefits were introduced for families with 3 children or more. Social Insurance Institute pension replacement rates were reduced from 80% to 60%, while the retirement age was raised to 65 for both men and women who entered the workforce in 1993.^[66]

Foreign policy

Mitsotakis initiated efforts designed to improve relations with the US, which Papandreou's anti-American rhetoric had damaged.^[67][68] In July 1990, a defense cooperation agreement was signed regarding the operation of American bases in Greece for the next eight years.^[67][69] Greece's airspace and naval support during the Gulf War further improved the relations between U.S. and Greece. Mitsotakis also visited Washington, making him the first Greek prime minister to do so since 1964 by Papandreou's father.^[70] Mitsotakis took the initiative for Greece to formally recognize the State of Israel, making it the last EEC member to do so.^[71] In 1992, he visited Israel, making it the first official visit by a Greek Prime Minister while in office.^[71] To prevent the use of Greece as a base for terrorism, Mitsotakis reinstated Karamanlis' anti-terror legistation^[72] that Papandreou had repealed in 1983 and expelled PLO members.^[73] Mitsotakis also supported a new dialogue with Turkey, but made progress on the Cyprus dispute a prerequisite for improvement on other issues.^{[citation needed]}

Opposition and conflicts

Papandreou criticized Mitsotakis's government for its economic policies, for not taking a sufficiently strict position over the naming dispute with the newly independent Republic of Macedonia (Mitsotakis favored a composite name such as "Nova Macedonia", for which he was accused at the time of being too lenient) as well as over Cyprus, and for being too pro-American. Mitsotakis's government collapsed after Antonis Samaras left the New Democracy party in June 1993, protesting his dismissal as Minister for Foreign Affairs in April 1992 due to his moderate handling of the Macedonia naming dispute with the neighboring country.^[74] Samaras created a new political party Political Spring (Greek: Πολιτική Άνοιξη) that sliced off ND support in the upcoming elections.

Post-leadership era (1993–2004)

We are battling against the powerful, greedy interests which thought that Greece belonged to them, who were used to running the country from behind the scenes for their own benefit. When we wouldn’t go along with them, they brought down the government, with the hope of bringing back Mr. Papandreou who has always done their bidding. But they will soon learn ... that our country is the precious heritage of all the people, not the private preserve of any individuals, no matter how much money, how many media and how many politicians they own.

—Mitsotakis in his final election rally in 1993^[75]

Papandreou's PASOK obtained a parliamentary majority in premature 1993 elections, based on the restored pre-1989 electoral system. After the elections, Mitsotakis resigned as ND leader and he was replaced by Miltiadis Evert,^[76] however, he remained the party's honorary chairman.

Retirement and death

In January 2004 Mitsotakis announced that he would retire from Parliament at the 7 March election, 58 years after his first election.

Mitsotakis died on 29 May 2017 in Athens, aged 98 of natural causes.^[77][78][79] Four days of national mourning were declared.^[80] His state funeral was held on 31 May 2017 and he was buried in Chania.^[81][82]

Governance approach

Mitsotakis was the first prime minister of the Metapolitefsi whose rise to power lacked the near-absolute dominance within party and government that Karamanlis and Papandreou had enjoyed. Although he led New Democracy to three consecutive electoral victories between 1989 and 1990, only the last granted him a narrow majority. Suspicion from both the populist wing and the Karamanlis' loyalists marked him as an outsider within the party establishment and never fully "owned" the party. His often uneasy relationship with Karamanlis, especially over the referral of Papandreou to a special court, persisted even after Mitsotakis nominated him for the presidency in 1990.^[6]

Mitsotakis upheld core liberal values throughout his long career. After becoming ND leader in 1984, he embraced the emergence of neoliberalism at international stage, which helped modernize his image despite his age and longstanding presence in politics. Moreover, he blended modernizing methods, such as market research and professional campaign strategies, with the habits of Greece's political traditions. His program of "Liberal New Democracy," aimed to reposition ND as a reformist and forward-looking party and to counter PASOK's statist agenda. However, his brand of Anglo-Saxon–style liberalism found limited resonance in Greek political culture, often clashing with his own allies.^[83]

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c}
   Some derived from photographic coverage of his funeral.^[84][85]
2. ^
   Mitsotakis had approximately seven years of ministerial experience under different prime ministers before becoming one.^[6] For comparison, Papandreou's ministerial experience was 18 months, when his father was prime minister, from February 1964 to July 1965.^[86] Costas Simitis also had approximately seven years of ministerial experience but under a single prime minister.^[6] Karamanlis had three years of experience as Minister of Public Works, but more experienced ministers surrounded him once as a prime minister.^[87]
3. ^
   While Papandreou contended that Karamanlis' removal was necessary for the constitutional revision, Aristovoulos Manesis [el], a constitutional scholar, argued the reverse: the constitutional revision was a pretext to justify the removal of Karamanlis, which would remind left-leaning voters as the elections were approaching that PASOK remained faithful to its revolutionary left-wing origins.^[88] Additionally, scholars consider that the motive behind Papandreou's actions was to divert public attention from economic policies.^[89][90]