who, but for the sudden emergence of Karamanlis, would have been leader of ERE in 1955 and Prime Minister, and Ilias Tsirimokos, a former minister of the provisional government set up in the mountains of Greece by the Communist resistance in 1944. For this reason, Tsirimokos was commonly regarded, at least by the Right, as a Communist or, at least, a sympathizer. To complicate matters even further, Papandreou, 76 years of age in 1964, was expected soon to have to cede his place to a new leader, and many aspired to this position, most of all the powerful and considerably younger Finance Minister, Konstantinos Mitsotakis. Furthermore, Papandreou's son, Andreas, emerged from political obscurity in 1964 as a new leader of the party's left wing. ASPIDA scandal ASPIDA was a backronym of "Officers Save Fatherland Ideals Democracy Meritocracy" (Greek: Αξιωματικοί Σώσατε Πατρίδα Ιδανικά Δημοκρατία Αξιοκρατία", which forms the Greek word for "shield"). It was essentially a group of relatively-junior army officers (captains or majors) centered on Captain Aristidis Bouloukos. Generally speaking, they were centrists who also seemed to harbor little sympathy for the communists. The purpose of the secret organization was apparently to oppose actual or perceived right-wing domination of the Greek army through the IDEA secret organization, which was perceived as still being active, and to help its own members obtain favorable postings (hence the reference to "meritocracy" in the acronym since there was a perception that choice postings and promotions went to sympathizers of IDEA regardless of merits). The alleged scandal, which had been revealed in 1965, would have had no serious implications in the political life of Greece if it were not for the alleged membership in the group by Andreas Papandreou, the prime minister's son and a prominent figure of the centre-left. That accusation was never accepted by Andreas, who would later become prime minister himself. Garoufalias decided to form a committee, which would examine the political implications of the scandal, including Andreas' involvement. Georgios Papandreou disapproved of the decision, but Andreas Papandreou reacted vehemently, which resulted in Petros Garoufalias submitting his resignation. Resignation of Georgios Papandreou After Petros Garoufalias resigned, Georgios Papandreou, spurred by his son's advice, decided to assume total control of the army by succeeding Garoufalias as defense minister. Relations with the King were already bad after a letter he had sent to the prime minister. The letter was considered by some to be