Yannis Dragasakis

Yannis Dragasakis MP
Γιάννης Δραγασάκης
Deputy Prime Minister of Greece
Incumbent
Assumed office 23 September 2015
Prime Minister	Alexis Tsipras
Preceded by	Himself
In office 27 January 2015 – 28 August 2015
Prime Minister	Alexis Tsipras
Preceded by	Evangelos Venizelos
Succeeded by	Himself
Deputy Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament
In office 2012–2014
Preceded by	Tasos Kourakis
Succeeded by	Alexis Mitropoulos Ioannis Balafas Despoina Charalampidou
In office 7 October 2008 – 14 October 2009
Succeeded by	Athanasios Leventis
Alternate Minister of National Economy
In office 13 November 1989 – 13 February 1990
Prime Minister	Xenophon Zolotas
Member of the Hellenic Parliament for Athens B
Incumbent
Assumed office 22 September 1996
Member of the Hellenic Parliament for Chania
In office 5 November 1989 – 22 September 1996
Personal details
Born	(1947-01-01) 1 January 1947 Lasithi, Greece
Political party	Syriza
Other political affiliations	Synaspismos

Yannis Dragasakis (Greek: Γιάννης Δραγασάκης; born 1 January 1947) is a Greek politician and the current Deputy Prime Minister of Greece. He formerly served as Deputy Prime Minister from 27 January to 28 August 2015. He is a member of the Greek Parliament for the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) for the Athens B constituency.

Early life and education

Dragasakis was born in Lasithi. He studied political and economic sciences at university. During his studies in London, he was Secretary of the Union of Greek Students.

Political career

He was a prominent member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece until 1991 when he resigned to join Synaspismos, and became one of their founding members. He later became a member of Syriza.

Dragasakis was first elected as a Member of the Hellenic Parliament in 1989 for the Coalition of the Left of Movements and Ecology, representing Chania. He was re-elected in 1996 for Athens B. At all subsequent elections, he has been re-elected, but since 2004, he has stood for Syriza.

On 13 November 1989, he was appointed Alternate Minister of National Economy in the Ecumenical Cabinet of Xenophon Zolotas, and served in this role until 13 February 1990, when he was removed in a cabinet reshuffle.

On 7 October 2008, he was elected as Deputy Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament, the first Deputy Speaker from Syriza's parliamentary group. He served for a one-year period, but was elected again in 2012, serving the whole legislative period until December 2014.

Dragasakis is one of the "economic quartet" of Syriza, the four main economists responsible for their economic policy, alongside Euclid Tsakalotos, Giorgos Stathakis and John Milios.

Deputy Prime Minister

Following the January 2015 Greek legislative election, Dragasakis was appointed by Alexis Tsipras as Deputy Prime Minister.

After Yanis Varoufakis, the Minister of Finance, resigned on 6 July, Dragasakis was named as a potential successor. Varoufakis was later succeeded by Euclid Tsakalotos.

Personal life

Dragasakis speaks English as well as Greek. He has two daughters, Marianna and Rinio. Friends have described him as "rigid and inflexible in terms of socialist perspective", but also tactical as he "the realism of everyday life". He has also been described as "grounded in reality".

External links

• (Greek)
• CV (Greek) and office terms (English) of Yannis Dragasakis at the Hellenic Parliament

Political offices
Preceded by Evangelos Venizelos	Deputy Prime Minister of Greece since 27 January 2015	Incumbent