George Papandreou becomes Greek prime minister

On 6 October 2009 George Papandreou was sworn in as prime minister of Greece after his PASOK party won a landslide in the early election. Weeks later his government revealed that the budget deficit was far larger than reported, triggering the Greek debt crisis.

A landslide victory before the fiscal disclosure

George Papandreou became prime minister of Greece on 6 October 2009 after the Panhellenic Socialist Movement, PASOK, won the country's early parliamentary election. Voting took place on 4 October 2009, and the party secured a governing majority against the incumbent New Democracy administration. Contemporary reporting described a decisive result that gave Papandreou room to form a cabinet and promise change. The transition initially appeared to be an ordinary electoral rotation within Greece's established two-party system. By late 2009, however, the new administration disclosed that the country's public deficit was far larger than previously acknowledged, triggering a crisis of credibility in fiscal reporting.

On 5 October 2009 international newspapers described the scale of PASOK's victory and the defeat of the previous government. On 6 October George Papandreou was sworn in and started forming his new administration. The subsequent revision of deficit estimates unsettled investors and European partners, helping propel Greece toward an emergency financing crisis. By 2010 the government was negotiating international financial assistance accompanied by severe fiscal conditions. Those measures reduced living standards and became a dominant subject of protest and political polarization. The outcome of the October 2009 election therefore cannot be assessed only as a successful transfer of power. It also determined which government would bear responsibility for revealing fiscal data and implementing the painful response to accumulated debt and deficit problems. Political competition remained central as parties disputed who had created the imbalances and who should carry the adjustment costs. Civic space was exercised through demonstrations against austerity in the ensuing years. Papandreou's appointment did not itself create the pre-existing deficit, but it made him the principal political decision-maker during its disclosure and the subsequent fiscal emergency.