Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras Role Politician Name Thodoris Dritsas | Succeeded by Christos Zois Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras Political party SYRIZA | |
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Preceded by Christos Zois as Alternate Minister for Shipping and the Aegean Preceded by Miltiadis Varvitsiotis as Minister for Shipping and the Aegean Born 23 August 1947 (age 76)
Piraeus, Greece ( 1947-08-23 ) Spouse(s) Tasia Christodoulopoulou Education National and Kapodistrian University of Athens | ||
[GR] Thodoris Dritsas, Greece - SYRIZA MP
Thodoris Dritsas (Greek: Θοδωρής Δρίτσας; born 23 August 1947) is a Greek Syriza politician who has served as the Minister of Shipping and Island Policy in the Second Tsipras Cabinet since September 2015. On 27 January 2015 he was appointed the Alternate Minister for Shipping and the Aegean in the First Cabinet of Alexis Tsipras, and he served in this role until 28 August 2015. On 23 September, he was appointed as the Minister of Shipping and Island Policy in the Second Cabinet of Alexis Tsipras. He is also the husband of Immigration minister Tasia Christodoulopoulou.
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Early life and education
Dritsas was born in Piraeus in 1947. He graduated in law from the University of Athens.
Political career
Dritsas was four times a mayoral candidate for the Municipality of Piraeus in the 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2014 elections with a platform called "The Port of Agony". From 2002 to 2007 he served as a Municipal Councillor in Piraeus. In the 2007 legislative election, he was elected as a Member of the Hellenic Parliament (MP) for Piraeus. He has been re-elected in all legislative elections since, including 2009, May 2012, June 2012, January 2015 and September 2015.
In the 15th parliamentary session from 2012 to 2014, he was one of the two Vice Presidents of the Special Permanent Committee on Institutions and Transparency. From his election in 2007 to 2015, Dritsas served as a coordinator on maritime and defence issues for the Syriza group in the Hellenic Parliament.
Following the formation of the First Tsipras Cabinet in January 2015, Dritsas was appointed as an Alternate Minister for Shipping and the Aegean. On his very first office day, just before taking the oath, he already announced the immediate cancellation of the privatization of the Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) promising that "the public character of the port will be maintained. The OLP sell-off stops here."
Following the September 2015 snap legislative election, Dritsas was appointed as a full minister responsible for the Ministry of Shipping and Island Policy in the Second Tsipras Cabinet. From 5 to 9 November 2015, Dritsas took part in a visit to China, including speaking at the Maritime Cooperation Forum of Mediterranean Countries of the European Union at Xiamen port.