Greek former PM Mitsotakis dies—family

In this Greece, April 6, 1990, file photo, Greek Conservative New Democracy leader, Constantine Mitsotakis, gestures raising his hand at the end of his election campaign during a mass rally in Athens, Greece. Former Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis’ family has put out a short statement saying Mitsotakis died Monday, May 29, 2017, “surrounded by those whom he loved and who loved him.” He was 98. (AP Photo/Aris Saris, File)

Former Greek Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis died Monday at the age of 98, his family said.

“He died at 0100 (2200 GMT) surrounded by the people whom he loved and who loved him,” a family statement said.

Born in 1918, Mitsotakis had quit politics in 2004, stepping down as Greece’s longest-serving parliamentarian.

The conservative politician was prime minister from 1990 to 1993 and served without interruption as MP since 1946, except for a ten-year break during and immediately after Greece’s 1967-1974 military junta.

During World War II Mitsotakis was active in the resistance against the Nazi occupation in his native island of Crete.

In 1967 he was arrested by the junta but managed to escape to Paris, where he lived in exile until his return to Greece after the re-establishment of democracy in 1974.

But despite his democratic credentials, Mitsotakis became a hate-figure for Greece’s centre-left after playing a vital part in the downfall of the government of George Papandreou in 1965.

The political instability that followed culminated in power seizure by a brutal army dictatorship that ruled the country from 1967 to 1974.

Mitsotakis was head of the conservative New Democracy party from 1984 to 1993 and had epic battles with Papandreou’s son Andreas, head of the socialist party Pasok.

A grandnephew of Greek statesman Eleftherios Venizelos, Mitsotakis belonged to a powerful Crete family. Two of his four children followed him into politics and parliament. JPV/rga