Kostas Karamanlis | |
|---|---|
| Κώστας Καραμανλής | |
.jpg) Karamanlis in 2009 | |
| Prime Minister of Greece | |
| In office 10 March 2004 – 6 October 2009 | |
| President | Konstantinos Stephanopoulos Karolos Papoulias |
| Preceded by | Costas Simitis |
| Succeeded by | George Papandreou |
| Minister for Culture | |
| In office 10 March 2004 – 15 February 2006 | |
| Prime Minister | Himself |
| Preceded by | Evangelos Venizelos |
| Succeeded by | Georgios Voulgarakis |
| President of New Democracy | |
| In office 21 March 1997 – 30 November 2009 | |
| Preceded by | Miltiadis Evert |
| Succeeded by | Antonis Samaras |
| Leader of the Opposition | |
| In office 6 October 2009 – 30 November 2009 | |
| President | Karolos Papoulias |
| Prime Minister | George Papandreou |
| Preceded by | George Papandreou |
| Succeeded by | Antonis Samaras |
| In office 21 March 1997 – 10 March 2004 | |
| President | Konstantinos Stephanopoulos |
| Prime Minister | Costas Simitis |
| Preceded by | Miltiadis Evert |
| Succeeded by | George Papandreou |
| Member of the Hellenic Parliament | |
| In office 18 June 1989 – 22 April 2023 | |
| Constituency | Thessaloniki A |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Konstantinos Karamanlis 14 September 1956 Athens, Greece |
| Political party | New Democracy |
| Spouse | |
| Relations | Konstantinos Karamanlis (uncle) Kostas Karamanlis (cousin) |
| Children | 2 |
| Residence | Thessaloniki |
| Alma mater | University of Athens Tufts University |
Konstantinos A. Karamanlis (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Αλεξάνδρου Καραμανλής; born 14 September 1956), commonly known as Kostas Karamanlis (Greek: Κώστας Καραμανλής, pronounced [ˈkostas karamanˈlis]), is a Greek retired politician who served as the 10th prime minister of Greece from 2004 to 2009. He was also president of the centre-right New Democracy party, founded by his uncle Konstantinos Karamanlis, from 1997 to 2009, and as member of the Hellenic Parliament from 1989 to 2023.
Karamanlis was first elected as a member of the Hellenic Parliament for New Democracy in 1989 and became president of the party in 1997. After leading the opposition in the Hellenic Parliament for seven years and his narrow defeat in the 2000 parliamentary election, he served as the 181st Prime Minister of Greece for two consecutive terms, winning the 2004 election, with an all-time record number of votes, and again in 2007. However, he asked for mid-term general elections in 2009, as his party enjoyed a narrow parliamentary majority that could not guarantee a stable government needed to handle the Greek financial crisis. Eventually, Karamanlis was defeated and resigned as president of New Democracy after twelve years as the party's leader, being active in politics though as a member of the parliament. On 21 February 2023, it was announced that he would not be a parliamentary candidate and that he would retire from politics after the 2023 election.