Greek prime minister reshuffles cabinet to boost bailout reforms
Alexis Tsipras says time has come to speed up measures agreed with the country’s international creditors.
The Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, has reshuffled his government to boost bailout reforms in the hope of getting the EU to agree to critical debt relief by the end of the year.
Heralding a new political era for his country, the embattled leader said on Sunday the time had come to expedite measures demanded by international creditors and turn the page. Hardline ministers who had criticised policies including privatisations were dumped for moderate technocrats in what was interpreted as a further shift to the centre by the man who once personified the hope of Europes radical left.
“We are very near the end of a long period of very difficult decisions,” he told his newly assembled cabinet. Tsipras said reform negotiations had to be concluded by 5 December so that eurozone finance ministers, holding their last meeting this year, could begin debating how best to cut the countrys debt.
At over 320bn (285bn), Greece’s debt pile is regarded as its biggest impediment to economic recovery.
In a move aimed at placating the lenders who have bailed out Greece three times since its economic near-collapse six years ago, the respected US-based economics professor Dimitri Papadimitriou was appointed economy minister. The 70-year-old head of the Levy Economics Institute, a thinktank, will have oversight of investment policies and EU structural funds.
Signalling he would push ahead with the often unpopular policies demanded by Greeces lenders the European Union and the International Monetary Fund Tsipras also retained the finance minister, Euclid Tsakalotos. The Oxford-educated economics professor has won plaudits for his low-key efficacy, in sharp contrast to his forerunner, Yanis Varoufakis.
Stergios Pitsiorlas, a veteran leftist who helped found the ruling Syriza party, was elevated to the position of deputy economy minister. In his previous role as chairman of Greeces privatisation agency, Pitsiorlas had been praised for his no-nonsense approach to disposing of cash-draining state assets. The shipping minister, Theodoros Dritsas, who was against further investment in Piraeus port by the Chinese conglomerate Cosco was among those dropped, while Panos Skourletis, the energy and environment minister, who had vehemently opposed the partial privatisation of the Public Power Corporation, was moved to the interior ministry.
Skourletis, an established Syriza figure, was described by insiders as too powerful to be removed altogether. He was replaced by George Stathakis who had held the economy ministry portfolio.
The septuagenarian leftist ideologue Aristides Baltas, who had been culture minister, was similarly replaced by Lydia Koniordou, Greeces foremost female classical actor.
A new migration ministry was also established, reflecting the countrys frontline role in the refugee crisis and allowing the deputy migration minister, Ioannis Mouzalas, to tap into resources and administrative backup in his promoted role as minister.
The popularity of Tsiprass two-party coalition has been in free-fall. A Public Issue poll last week put the government 24 percentage points behind the centre right New Democracy, the main opposition party. Tax increases and sustained cuts to wages and benefits have corroded its support with thousands of pensioners recently taking to the streets in protest in Athens.
With many of the measures beginning to bite this winter, the challenges remain immense for the country still seen as Europes weakest link. Tsipras told his 48-member cabinet that by completing reforms Greece could follow the roadmap of being included in the European Central Banks quantitative easing programme early next year, which would see the bank acquire Greek government debt. The government is also aiming to regain access to debt markets by the time its latest bailout expires in 2018.