Political Activities
As a student, Venizelos served on the Central Council of the Student Union of the University of Thessaloniki (FEAPT) in 1977, and the National Student Union of Greece (EFEE) in 1975.
He has been a member of the PASOK Central Committee since 1990. In the past he was a member of the PASOK Executive Bureau.
He has held the following government posts:
- Deputy Minister to the Presidency, and government spokesman, 13 October 1993 to 8 July 1994
- Minister for the Press and the Media, and government spokesman, 8 July 1994 to 15 September 1995
- Minister for Transport and Communications, 15 September 1995 to 22 January 1996
- Minister for Justice, 22 January to 5 September 1996
- Minister for Culture, 25 September 1996 to 19 February 1999
- Minister for Development, 19 January 1999 to 13 April 2000
- Minister for Culture, 21 November 2000 to 10 March 2004
- Minister for Finance, 17 June 2011 to 21 March 2012
- Deputy Prime Minister, 17 June 2011 to 21 March 2012
After the legislative elections of 2007, in which PASOK was soundly defeated, Venizelos announced his candidacy for the leadership of the party. In the leadership election, held on 11 November 2007, Venizelos was defeated by incumbent party leader George Papandreou, receiving 38.18% of the vote against 55.91% for Papandreou.
When named by Papandreou to the finance and deputy PM positions in June, 2011, Venizelos said "'I am leaving defense today to go to the real battle' to reduce Europe’s biggest debt load – almost 1 1/2 times the size of its economy." David Marsh of London and Oxford Capital Markets in MarketWatch wrote that both "German parliamentarians who voted solidly earlier this month to involve private-sector creditors in the next bail-out package," which Angela Merkel has now dropped as a precondition, and "Greece’s politicians and people, who must bow to further austerity as the price for fresh external support," were central as "the stage now shifts to further players in the theatre of Greek affairs." And "obody knows whether the burly new Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos will put in a starring role or turn out merely as a transitory figure."
Read more about this topic: Evangelos Venizelos
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