Alexis Tsipras reshuffles cabinet to get rid of bailout dissidents

The Greek prime minister has sought to rid his government of hardline leftists who oppose further austerity, reshuffling his cabinet barely 48 hours after dissidents broke ranks over a draconian bailout deal for the debt-stricken country.

In a move aimed squarely at displaying his determination to forge ahead with spending cuts and reforms, Alexis Tsipras replaced leading government ministers. The shakeup marked a decisive split from militants in his radical left Syriza party who had voted against tough measures demanded in return for rescue funds from the EU and IMF.

“It marks the beginning of the end of his relationship with the extremist far-left faction,” said Aristides Hatzis, associate professor of law and economics at Athens University. “But it is also clear that this is a short-term government. Tsipras’s hands are tied because these people still have a strong presence in his parliamentary group.”

The reshuffle saw nine changes overall, with the ousting of energy minister Panagiotis Lafazanis by far the most important. As head of Syriza’s militant Left Platform, the veteran Marxist had led the revolt against policies he said were utterly incompatible with the party’s ideology. Lafazanis was replaced by former labour minister Panos Skourletis.

A prominent member of the country’s tax experts’ union, Tryfon Alexiadis, took up the post vacated by Nadia Valavani, the deputy finance minister. Valavani resigned ahead of the vote earlier this week, saying she could not in good conscience support the new bailout programme because it would be tantamount to a “tombstone” for Greece.

The administrative reform minister, George Katrougalos, became labour minister, while the deputy defence minister, Costas Isychos, who had also voted against the rescue package, was replaced by Christoforos Vernardakis, an academic.

Tsipras also moved his close ally, the former government spokesman Gavriel Sakellarides, to the post of Syriza parliament representative, removing another hardliner from the role. Olga Gerovassili was named as government spokeswoman. Pavlos Haikalis, a MP with the Independent Greeks party and a former actor, assumed the role of deputy social security minister in what appeared to be a sop to Syriza’s junior partner in government.

But the limited nature of the reshuffle reinforced mounting speculation that elections would almost certainly be held in the early autumn. “It was limited and Tsipras’s reaction to dissenters minimal because elections are inevitable,” Hatzis told the Guardian. “Right now he is hostage to dissenters on the one hand and the political opposition who have pledged to support the programme on the other. That can’t go on for long.”

International creditors have demanded that the Greek parliament endorse a wave of measures in order to qualify for further financial assistance – including tax hikes that Syriza has described as recessionary and argued will only worsen the country’s economic plight. In a major U-turn, after five fraught months of negotiation, Tsipras agreed to enforce significant pension cuts, VAT increases and an overhaul of collective bargaining rules to secure a third bailout package worth up to €86bn (£60bn) to keep bankruptcy at bay.

The new ministers are expected to be sworn into their posts on Saturday.

Original Article
Source: theguardian.com/
Author: Helena Smith in Athens