Christos Zois ( el, Χρήστος Ζώης; born 10 May 1968) is a Greek politician. He is currently the leader of NEA MERA, and Deputy Chairman of the

Union for the Homeland and the People Union for the Homeland and the People ( el, Ένωση για την Πατρίδα και τον Λαό) was a minor Greek political party that formed in order to take part in 2014 European Parliament Elections. The party was founded by Vyron Po ...

. He was formerly a Member of the Hellenic Parliament (MP) for

New Democracy New Democracy, or the New Democratic Revolution, is a concept 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 was decisively distinc ...

, but left in 2012 along with ten other New Democracy MPs to found the Independent Greeks. He left the Independent Greeks in 2013 when he founded NEA MERA. From August to September 2015, he served as the Alternate Minister of Shipping in

Vassiliki Thanou-Christophilou Vasiliki Thanou-Christophilou ( el, Βασιλική Θάνου-Χριστοφίλου, ; born 3 November 1950), also known as just Vasiliki Thanou, is a Greek judge who served as caretaker Prime Minister of Greece from 27 August to 21 September ...

caretaker cabinet A caretaker government is a temporary ''ad hoc'' government that performs some governmental duties and functions in a country until a regular government is elected or formed. Depending on specific practice, it usually consists of either randomly se ...

Early life and education

Born in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. He studied at the Law School of the

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...

, before completing a DEA in public law at the

Toulouse 1 University Capitole Founded in 1229, the Toulouse 1 Capitole University (Université Toulouse I Capitole) is one of the three universities of the city of Toulouse, in southwestern France. This university, presided by Hugues Kenfack, focuses on the social sciences ( ...

Political career

Zois was first elected as a

Member of the Hellenic Parliament in the 2000 legislative election. In 2012, he defected to the Independent Greeks. He was not re-elected in the June 2012 legislative election. From 2009 to 2012, Zois had responsibility for public administration in the First Shadow Cabinet of Antonis Samaras. In 2013, Zois left Independent Greeks and formed his own party, New Reformist Radical Reconstruction. In his first speech as party leader, he said that he would abolish income tax for those who earn less than 33,000 Euros a year. In February 2014, Zois joined with

Vyron Polydoras Vyron Polydoras ( el, Βύρων Πολύδωρας, ; born 27 January 1947 in Perivolia, Elis, Greece) is a Greek politician who was the Minister for Public Order and Justice of Greece from 2006 to 2007 in the first Cabinet of Kostas Karamanlis. ...

to found the

. In November 2014,

Panos Kammenos Panagiotis "Panos" Kammenos ( el, Παναγιώτης "Πάνος" Καμμένος, ; born 12 May 1965) is a Greek politician and the founder of the right-wing party "Independent Greeks", which formed the governing coalition of the Hellenic Par ...

, the leader of the Independent Greeks, gave an interview where he invited Zois back to the party. On 28 August 2015, Zois was sworn in as the Alternate Minister of Shipping in the Caretaker Cabinet of Vassiliki Thanou-Christophilou.

Personal life

Zois is married to Joanna Tsagali.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zois, Christos 1968 births Living people Toulouse 1 University Capitole alumni Aristotle University of Thessaloniki alumni MPs of Larissa Politicians from Düsseldorf