Anastasios (Tasos) Nerantzis (; 3 October 1944 – 11 July 2021) was a Greek attorney and politician. A co-founder of the

New Democracy New Democracy, or the New Democratic Revolution, is a type of democracy in Marxism, based on Mao Zedong's Bloc of Four Social Classes theory in post-revolutionary China which argued originally that democracy in China would take a path that w ...

party, he was a long-standing member of the

Hellenic Parliament The Parliament of the Hellenes (), commonly known as the Hellenic Parliament (), is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Greece, located in the Old Royal Palace, overlooking Syntagma Square in Athens. The parliament is the supreme demo ...

, governor of

Samos Samos (, also ; , ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese archipelago, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the Mycale Strait. It is also a separate reg ...

and

Lesbos Lesbos or Lesvos ( ) is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of , with approximately of coastline, making it the third largest island in Greece and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, eighth largest ...

prefectures A prefecture (from the Latin word, "''praefectura"'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain inter ...

, and held various posts as deputy minister in the first Karamanlis government (2004–07). Having dropped out of the

in 2014, he remained Secretary-General of the

Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy The Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (, ), or I.A.O., is a transnational, inter-parliamentary institution that in 1994 was originally established as the European Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (EIAO). Based in Athens, Greece, t ...

Biography

Born and raised in

Nikaia Nicaea (also spelled Nicæa or Nicea, ; ), also known as Nikaia (, Attic: , Koine: ), was an ancient Greek city in the north-western Anatolian region of Bithynia. It was the site of the First and Second Councils of Nicaea (the first and seventh ...

near

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; ; , Ancient: , Katharevousa: ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens city centre along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf in the Ath ...

, Nerantzis was the Greek junior champion of 1958 in

table tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

and a leading member of the Greek scout movement. In 1961, he got involved with right-wing

National Radical Union The National Radical Union ( (ΕΡΕ), (ERE)) was a Greek political party formed in 1956 by Konstantinos Karamanlis, mostly out of the Greek Rally party. History ERE was a conservative, right-wing party, which also had some prominent centris ...

's youth organisation EREN. Studying law at

Athens University The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; , ''Ethnikó kai Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the University of Athens (UoA), is a public university in Athens, Greece, with various campuses alo ...

, he was elected chairman of the

Student Union A students' union or student union, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, organizatio ...

of Nikaia and

Korydallos Korydallos (; Latin: ''Corydallus'') is both a town and a municipality in the Piraeus (regional unit), Piraeus regional unit, Greece. It is located in the southwestern part of Athens agglomeration. Geography Korydallos is situated southeast of th ...

. Following the 1974 collapse of the

Greek military junta The Greek junta or Regime of the Colonels was a right-wing military junta that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974. On 21 April 1967, a group of colonels with CIA backing overthrew the caretaker government a month before scheduled elections wh ...

Nerantzis became a founding member of

and with the first election was rightaway elected a member of the

representing the suburban

Piraeus B Piraeus B () is a Greek election constituency that includes the Piraeus regional unit municipalities and Salamina. Concretely, this constituency includes the municipalities of Keratsini-Drapetsona, Nikaia-Agios Ioannis Renti, Korydallos, Perama ...

constituency. From 1978 until 1981, he would serve as the parliament's Secretary-General, and in 1994, he was elected a member of New Democracy's Central and Executive Committees. He didn't return to parliament before November 1989, but would remain a Member of the Hellenic Parliament for seven consecutive terms, from

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

until 2014. Under prime minister

Kostas Karamanlis Konstantinos A. Karamanlis (; born 14 September 1956), commonly known as Kostas Karamanlis (, ), is a Greek retired politician who served as Prime Minister of Greece, prime minister of Greece from 2004 to 2009. He was also president of the Centr ...

, Nerantzis held various vice-ministerial posts. Deputy of Development minister Dimitris Sioufas, he was involved in the Turkey–Greece gas pipeline completed in 2007. In the 2007–09 period, he was the 3rd Deputy Speaker of the

representing his party's parliamentary group. A long-standing delegate of the Hellenic Parliament to the

(I.A.O.), Nerantzis in 2010 was elected Alternate Secretary. In 2012 he was promoted to the post of the transnational organization's Secretary-General. Following a 2010 visit to the

Armenian Orthodox The Armenian Apostolic Church () is the autocephalous national church of Armenia. Part of Oriental Orthodoxy, it is one of the most ancient Christian churches. The Armenian Apostolic Church, like the Armenian Catholic Church, belongs to the Arme ...

, separatist

Nagorno-Karabakh Nagorno-Karabakh (, ; ) is a region in Azerbaijan, covering the southeastern stretch of the Lesser Caucasus mountain range. Part of the greater region of Karabakh, it spans the area between Lower Karabakh and Syunik Province, Syunik. Its ter ...

region, the government of

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

declared him a ''

persona non grata In diplomacy, a ' (PNG) is a foreign diplomat that is asked by the host country to be recalled to their home country. If the person is not recalled as requested, the host state may refuse to recognize the person concerned as a member of the diplo ...

''.

Positions and controversy

Compulsory voting

In the 2000–2004 term, Nerantzis was a member of the Committee for the Revision of the Constitution. In the debate on abolishing administrative sanctions to enforce

compulsory voting Compulsory voting, also called universal civic duty voting or mandatory voting, is the requirement that registered voters participate in an election. As of January 2023, 21 countries have compulsory voting laws. Law enforcement in those countries ...

, he was cited to be the only member objecting to the abolition on the grounds that this would render compulsory voting, which he strongly defended, a pure "academicism, a light that does not shine, a fire that gives no heat."

Nikoloudis Report

When in his last parliamentary term (2012–14), Nerantzis was elected president of the parliament's

Special Permanent Committee on Institutions and Transparency The Special Permanent Committee on Institutions and Transparency () is one of the four Special permanent committees of the Hellenic Parliament. 15th legislature (2012–14) In the 15th legislature, the committee initially consisted of the foll ...

, he was involved in several controversies. After he had been criticized for procedural irregularities in late 2013, in early 2014 he was accused by the opposition for withholding the "Nikoloudis Report" from the parliament. The report named after Cassation Court investigator

Panagiotis Nikoloudis Panagiotis Nikoloudis (; born 1949) is a Greek prosecutor who served as the Minister of State for Combatting Corruption in the Caretaker Cabinet of Vassiliki Thanou-Christophilou and the Cabinet of Alexis Tsipras. Professional career He had be ...

listed 413 persons indicted for tax evasion and money laundering, including a number of local and regional government officials. While Nerantzis first argued that the list didn't specify names and that no members of the Hellenic Parliament were affected, Syriza MP

Zoi Konstantopoulou Zoe Konstantopoulou (; born 8 December 1976) is a Greek politician and lawyer who served as Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament from February to October 2015. Since 2016 she serves as the president of the Course of Freedom. Life Born on 8 De ...

's public attacks finally forced him to reveal the list.

Homophobia controversy

In a parliamentary debate in September 2014, Nerantzis railed against the adoption of an anti-discrimination bill aimed at protective rights for same-sex couples. "Since the third century marriage has been defined only between man and woman. As such, there is no place for civil unions in Greece." he said, comparing homosexuality with

paedophilia Pedophilia ( alternatively spelled paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of pube ...

and brothels "allowing bestiality".

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nerantzis, Anastasios 1944 births Politicians from Piraeus 2021 deaths National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni New Democracy (Greece) politicians Greek MPs 1974–1977 Greek MPs 1989–1990 Greek MPs 1993–1996 Greek MPs 1996–2000 Greek MPs 2000–2004 Greek MPs 2004–2007 Greek MPs 2007–2009 Greek MPs 2009–2012 Greek MPs 2012–2014 20th-century Greek lawyers