Stefanos Manos speaks at the 4th conference of Drassi, the party he founded, in Athens, on 14 May 2016. [Yannis Kotsiaris/Intime News]
Stefanos Manos was a very authentic person and a politician who was far ahead of his time. His mind worked like a laser, perhaps because he was an engineer by training. He saw a problem and looked for the most practical and economical solution, always “outside the box.” He had an opinion on everything, from how to improve public transportation to how to cook the best pie.
He belonged to a generation that entered politics in the early years after the restoration of democracy in Greece, when the tsunami of populism was sweeping modern Greek thought and of course, politics. He went against the grain because he believed he was obliged to do so.
Unlike other politicians who were from his party, he abhorred the supposedly costless promises, which were ultimately paid dearly by the people themselves. He left a tangible mark because whichever post he was appointed to, he produced results or laid the foundations for the next minister to implement his work.
He felt, justifiably, a foreign body in his party after the premiership of Konstantinos Karamanlis and at the same time he had become – intentionally – the reddest of red flags against the beast of the political convergence of the popular right with the traditional wing of PASOK, and the left, that emerged after the restoration of democracy. He was an easy target, of course. Not only because he didn’t mince his words, but because it almost pleased him to present the absence of emotional empathy as an asset. Deeply selfish, he had difficulty playing as a team member in a very team sport such as politics.
