October 18 was an important day anyway for Andreas Papandreou, as 37 years before his first electoral victory, on October 18, 1944, his father George Papandreou returned to free Greece forming a government, six days after the liberation of Athens from the Germans.
Thus, the victory of Andreas Papandreou and PASOK on October 18, 1981, was connected to what he wanted to convey around the triptych "National Independence - People's Sovereignty - Social Liberation".
As G. Panagiotakopoulos, the "centralizer" of Andreas Papandreou, had revealed many times, there were slogans that sounded methodically and were based on the speech of the then president of PASOK. The beginning was made by a part of the youth of the Movement who led the rest of the crowd as well, thus promoting them to the world.
Through the promises to change the social relations, and the escalating concentrations, from 13.58% of the votes in November 1974, the percentage of PASOK gradually jumped to 48.1% in October 1981. After all, Papandreou himself, he cultivated the profile of the politician who was in direct contact and communication with the popular strata while he was usually addressed in the public sphere, by friends and opponents, with his first name, "Andreas", precisely for this reason. Thus, in 1981 he managed to become the first and perhaps the only prime minister of the country, whom his friends and political opponents would address by his first name only.
The motto of "Change" per se, it was formulated for the first time by Andreas Papandreou, seven years before the founding of PASOK, when he was still in the Center Union. In fact, on February 10, 1967, "Ethnos" wrote on its front page that "Andreas Papandreou proclaims the great change", talking about socialist ideas that seemed far-fetched at the time.
Although the word "change" was used more in the years just before the 1980s by the General Secretary of the KKE, Charilaos Florakis, it was ultimately identified with the pre-election speeches of Andreas in 1981.
It is characteristic that in 1979, Florakis himself said at the KNE-Odegitite festival:"All the parties of the democratic opposition proclaim the need to remove power from the Right and call for change [...] There is of course [... ] the PASOK, which officially projects the slogan of change [...] But at the same time, PASOK declares itself as the exclusive agent of change. It does not consider it appropriate or perhaps even necessary to join the forces that seek change in an anti-imperialist anti-monopoly democratic direction ".
In any case, "Change" symbolized a society in transition, with which A. Papandreou managed to connect pre-election, through his program and messages, and of course his leading presence as a speaker.
Andreas Papandreou's victory speech:
"Greek women, Greeks,
Tonight I am possessed by deep emotion. I am truly moved by the great trust you have shown me. And at the same time I have the feeling of a heavy responsibility, which I and my colleagues shoulder, to carry out the work of Change. Because Change today is a condition for the survival of the nation, for the well-being of our people. And I feel really proud that this position, this perspective for our country was approved in such a strong, powerful and democratic way by the great majority of the Greek people. As I told you in my speeches, both in squares and on television, from tomorrow, October 19, the hard work begins. And I repeat what I have already told you:that in order for the program of the Great Change to come through, for the great expectations of our people to finally come to fruition, your immediate, active participation will be required.
We will proceed with steady steps, always asking for your consent, the broad popular consent in every new measure we take. And we will make Change tangible.
Change will show its face very quickly, very directly. I would like to emphasize that there will be cooperation of all state actors. We are not going to lead the country on any adventure, as we have emphasized in the past. Our goal, our policy, is the welfare of the people. It is national pride and social justice. We are determined to carry out our program to the letter, because you have given us what we have been asking for. You gave us a strong, self-sufficient majority in the Hellenic Parliament, so that we could, without hesitation and without suspensions, move forward with the implementation of the Change. And thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving us this opportunity. I want to assure you that we will stay on the ramparts of this struggle for New Greece, which we all expect. A Greece that will belong to its people, a Greece that will be governed by its people.
Tonight we celebrate victory. First of all the democratic institutions, which were established on October 18, 1981. We celebrate the victory of Change. And I would like to ask you, in your celebration and your joy, not to forget that PASOK is the government of all Greeks, that PASOK is now asking our people for reconciliation. Forgetting the past:everyone forward together for the great, remarkable work of building the New Greece. Hello, thank you, and know that I will honor the great contract of honor that I entered into with you all these years".
The percentages of the parties in the 1981 elections:
Panhellenic Socialist Movement: 48.07%, 172 seats
New Democracy: 35.88%, 115 seats
KKE: 10.93%, 10 seats
The rest of the participating parties failed to elect any MP.
The laws of "Change"
A year ago, NEWS 24/7 recalled the basic laws of Change, in its extensive feature, which are worth mentioning again.
From the first government of Papandreou, the National Resistance and the genocide of the Pontic Greeks are recognized.
The National Health System is established , the Hellenic Gendarmerie and the City Police are abolished and merged into a single body, the Hellenic Police, the YENED is demilitarized and renamed ERT2, the National Medicines Organization is established, various allowances are established, occupational accidents are recognized and compensated, the five-day work is extended, while working hours are reduced to 40, the possibility of paid leave is extended, the Automatic Price Index Adjustment (A.T.A.) of the salary is established.
Also, civil marriage is established, the anachronistic institution of dowry is abolished, consensual divorce is established and the two sexes are equalized according to the new family law (L.1329/1983). In the field of education, the monotonous system was introduced and the school uniform is abolished (1982), as well as the academic seat. Finally, the right to vote is extended to 18-year-olds.
More details:
Decriminalization of adultery: The famous article 357 of the criminal code which defined extramarital relationship as a criminal offense was a legal anachronism that was abolished in 1982 with the law 1272. The then Minister of Justice, Stathis Alexandris, faces reactions from the church who believe that this law undermines the foundations of the Greek family, while there are even demonstrations against him. Nevertheless, the law is passed and... "arrests with the sheets" are a thing of the past. At the same time, with the same law, domestic violence becomes a criminal offence. An extremely important regulation in the direction of women's emancipation at the beginning of 1980. This simultaneous regulation does not agree with the New Democracy. In fact - according to the press of the time - a leading member of it was saying in the corridors of the Parliament that "PASOK decriminalized the studio and criminalized the bedroom".
Monotonic System – Remove Apron: With a Presidential Decree in the same year, "perispomeni" "sili" and "daseia" are a thing of the past for education and for the Greek language. The monotonic system is established. A change that shocked the conservatives of the time, especially because it was also accompanied by the abolition of the blue school apron. Vassilis Kontogiannopoulos, Minister of Education in the government of Konstantinos Mitsotakis, wanted to bring the apron back to schools 10 years later.
University asylum: The institution that Anna Diamantopoulou was the first to abolish and the current government completed its work, was institutionalized by PASOK with the law 1268/82. Framework law entitled "On the operation of Higher Education Institutions". It establishes asylum and the circulation of ideas. A bill associated at that time with the justification of student struggles during the Junta and post-colonial period. At the same time, the procedures for student participation in the administration of the universities and a series of other requests for the democratic operation of the Faculty (Teaching Scientific Staff) are institutionalized.
Law 1264 on trade unions: One of the most important legacies of the first years of the PASOK government is the law 1264/82 on the functioning of the trade union movement and work. The law abolishes the institutional framework that was in force until then after many consultations and, among other things, the right of employer strike (lock out). Responsible, as Minister of Labour, Apostolos Kaklamanis. This law is the most progressive of Western societies and Europe at that time. It establishes the conditions for exercising the right to strike, trade union action and a number of other issues. However, shipping unions for which a special regime was established were excluded from its provisions. It remains the basis of labor law to this day and its abolition was announced by the current Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in the press conference he gave to the TIF.
The National Health System: In 1983, one of PASOK's most emblematic laws was passed, the one creating the National Social Security System. The person who was associated with the creation of a single, national health system with the goal of access for every person is the father of the president of the Change Movement, Giorgos Gennimatas. This law was an example of international prestige since in a country of the western world a universal access health system is being formed based on the values of the countries of the "eastern bloc". Thus, in addition to a demand with enormous social acceptance, it also has ideological characteristics.
Civil marriage – Legal abortions: Another conflict of PASOK with the Church was the institutionalization of civil marriage with the law 1329 passed in 1983. While in 1986 it will be completed with the legalization of abortions. A 1984 law provides for the right to equal pay for equal work for men and women. These arrangements are still the basis of national legislation on gender equality issues.
Vote at 18: Another innovation of the governments of Change. Young people enter the political scene dynamically with the passing of Law 1329/83. This law is strongly contested by New Democracy. It will be renewed with the vote of 17 voted by the SYRIZA government in 2016.
Recognition of National Resistance - Files: The recognition of the National Resistance is one of the first pieces of legislation that will be brought by the government of Andreas Papandreou in 1982. Among other things, it includes the pensions of the resistance fighters, but it has a strong political function. It expresses Andreas Papandreou's personal understanding of "national reconciliation". At the same time, in 1986, the way is opened for the destruction of the famous "security files" with the PASOK legislation that allows access to public documents. Many fighters of the Junta period as well as of the civil war are discovering how the regime "filed" them.
It is worth noting that on October 18, 1981, the first European elections took place, which went unnoticed in the face of PASOK's electoral triumph.
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