2ng11.htm
October 9, 1973: Diminutive rightwing politician and historian Spyros
Markezinis smiles as he takes the prime minister's position in the front row
to the left of Archbishop Hieronymos during a photo-call after the swearing-in
ceremony for his 39-member government, appointed by the then ruling military
junta in a short-lived attempt to 'liberalise' its dictatorial regime through
a tightly controlled transition to civilian rule. Hieronymos is flanked to his
right by junta strongman, colonel George Papadopoulos as 'president of the
republic', with his army colleague, general Odysseas Angelis, standing next to
him as 'vice-president'. Under a new constitution passed by referendum on July
29, Papadopoulos lifted martial law, released all political prisoners and
scrapped the military 'revolutionary council' which had governed Greece since
the April 1967 coup d'etat, to woo old-guard politicians into endorsing his
blueprint for 'liberalisation'. The leaders of outlawed political parties
snubbed Papadopoulos' overtures because the new constitution allowed him to
retain most of his dictatorial powers for another full seven-year term of his
unelected 'presidency'. Markezinis was the only noteworthy veteran of the
pre-1967 political establishment to accept the mandate of a caretaker premier
ahead of parliamentary elections planned for late 1974. On November 25 he was
unceremoniously toppled together with Papadopoulos by disaffected hardliners
of the military regime under the shadowy leadership of brigadier Dimitris
Ioannidis, head of the dreaded military police (ESA). A week earlier,
Markezinis had humiliated himself by 'requesting' Papadopoulos to reimpose
martial law in the wake of the November 17 uprising at the Athens Polytechnic
|