Brought up on party offices he studied medicine with a strong presence in the auditoriums of the Medical School of Athens and epic battles against the leftist factions that prevailed at the universities.
Coming from the conservative anti-communist environment of Mani region, the young Michaloliakos started his political career through the newly formed ONNED moving towards the leadership.
Mr Vassilis Michaliolakos was leader of the Youth Organization of New Democracy in 1982. He was commanding with iron discipline imposed by the groups “Centaurs” and “Rangers” that he had formed to participate in every episode and terrorize their opponents: from university auditoriums, from where they wanted to remove leftist students, to the streets of Athens, where they fought to overthrown PASOK, but also to ONNED offices, from where all those who had liberal tendencies or threatened his leadership were removed.
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Vassilis Michaloliakos on the left (with white shirt ) at Averof’s speech to ONNED, the then leader of New Democracy
Vassilis Michaloliakos was also a deputy mayor of Athens, something that he avoids mentioning during his election campaign along with his love for Panathinaikos football club. “We do not care so much about him being Panathinaikos, but mainly because he is against Olympiacos football club” the administration of Olympiacos team says, “since Mr Michaloliakos was always against of anything the amateur club of Olympiacos ever asked,”. That is why his political movement to Piraeus in 1990 after failing to being nominated for Athens municipality, was not so easy.
Moreover, Mr Michaloliakos was the target of a bomb attack in January 2001 resulting to serious injuries. The first assumptions saying that this was terrorist attack have never been confirmed and the case is still unsolved although it was published that Mr Michaloliakos had informed the then leader of New Democracy, Costas Karamanlis, that a political opponent of his in Piraeus was behind the bomb attack requesting from “the leadership of the party to take measures against that person”.
During his tenure in office Mr. Michaloliakos attempted to show a more consensual profile, although his opponents accuse him of directing the municipality by authoritarianism and closed family practices, that made several of his colleagues to abandon office long before Mr. Yannis Moralis appeared to the political scene, who, judging by the reactions of the current mayor, is a big threat to him and those who surround him.
The battle in Piraeus has a special meaning since two worlds clash: the one of labor and hopes for tomorrow against the one of political intrigue and patronage networks. The result will undoubtedly have an impact across country.
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