Former anti-junta activist Vassilis Rapanos named finance minister in cabinet that new PM says will be long-lived
A new coalition government has been announced in Greece, as eurozone finance ministers met in Luxembourg.
In a surprise move, Vassilis Rapanos, a renowned economist with a radical past as an anti-junta activist, was given the post of finance minister.
With the country's future in the eurozone hanging in the balance despite the elevation to power of pro-European parties in Athens, Rapanos's appointment was greeted with enthusiasm.
"He's absolutely right for the post, he's one of the best we have," said Pandelis Kapsis, a prominent political commentator who served as spokesman for the emergency administration lead by Lucas Papademos until last month.
"As chairman of the National Bank of Greece he knows how the banking system works but he also has a great deal of experience and knowledge of our country's public finances," Kapsis said.
The cabinet's appointment was met with relief among Greeks exhausted by weeks of political paralysis since inconclusive elections in May. On Sunday the centre-right New Democracy party came out on top in fresh elections but failed to clinch an outright majority.
Under intense pressure from foreign lenders keeping the economy afloat, Greece's squabbling political elite put differences aside to create a three-party alliance led by the conservatives under the new prime minister, Antonis Samaras.
The 38-strong cabinet was dominated by New Democrats after its two minority partners, Pasok and Democratic Left, agreed their MPs would support the government but not participate in it.
With the exception of three ministers, including Rapanos, who were appointed at the behest of the junior parties, all were well known conservative politicians. In an attempt to allay fears that the government marked a return to the old order, several members were young and untried.
Samaras, who was to convene the cabinet's first meeting after a swearing-in ceremony, said he expected the administration would be long-lived and fulfil its four-year term. He faces a high-wire act of appeasing Greeks who despair of austerity measures and meeting the commitments Athens has signed up to in exchange for financial assistance.
Berlin, which has bankrolled most of the two bailout programmes that have propped up the Greek economy since May 2010, has made clear that punishing reforms will have to be made if Athens is to continue receiving funds. Foreign creditors have called on Greece to enact €12bn in further spending cuts next month.
All three parties in the new government want to renegotiate the bailout accord, once again putting Greece on a potential collision course with creditors. Officials said Giorgos Zanias, the outgoing finance minister who represented Greece at Thursday's euro group meeting in Luxembourg, would raise the issue of amending the austerity measures, citing fears of a descent into social chaos and collapse if Greeks are pushed too hard.
Dimitris Keridis, professor of political science at Panteion University in Athens, said: "The secret to this government surviving will be trust among the three partners. If they fragment the only beneficiary will be [the main opposition] Syriza. It won't be easy in a political culture that is not used to coalitions and in a country that faces such tough decisions."
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