All The Names Of The (Partially) New Greek Government

Greek Prime Minister kept most of his Cabinet intact on June 9, but shook it up a bit in the wake of his New Democracy Conservatives taking a beating in the European Parliament elections to the major opposition Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA). Samaras, as expected because had had to keep the votes of his coalition partner PASOK to control Parliament, retained Socialist leader Evangelos Venizelos as Deputy Premier/Foreign Minister. Venizelos is under siege in his own party, however, with dissident lawmakers asking for his head as the party fell precipitously in polls after he backed austerity measures. His party keeps ministerial positions in the government though. Gikas Hardouvelis got the plum job of Finance Minister, replacing Yannis Stournaras, who is reportedly in line to be Governor of the Bank of Greece. Nikos Dendias, a lawyer, moves from Public Order to Development and Competitiveness although he has no experience in the field. Vassilis Kikilias, a former basketball player, replaces Dendias, who replaced Costis Hatzidakis, who was left out in the cold. New Democracy MP Gerasimos Giakoumatos, who is Deputy Development Minister, had to fight in March to keep his Parliamentary immunity and verbally attacked Dendias after being charged with a tax offense. It’s common for Greek Ministers to be given political appointments in fields where they have little or no experience to jump from one ministry to the other. Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis, a former member of the far right-wing LAOS party before moving to New Democracy, was canned in favor of another former LAOS member, Makis Voridis, who has been accused of extremist right-wing, homophobic and anti-Semitic views – which he has denied although he headed the extremist Hellenic Front. He has no experience in the health care field and takes over a portfolio under fire, with the system crumbling under big budget reductions that has left hospitals without essential supplies and even toilet paper or toilet seats. Georgiadis had been Samaras’ pit bull attack dog, confronting opponents of reforms and austerity measures in a series of combative confrontations and defended health care cuts. Andreas Loverdos, a former PASOK minister who quit the party to form his own, only to recently come back, replaces Constantinos Arvanitopoulos as Education Minister. Loverdos’ return gave the government a three-vote majority in the 300-member Parliament. Argyris Dinopoulos takes over from Yiannis Michelakis as Interior Minister. Panos Panagiotopoulos was ousted in favor of Constandinos Tasoulas as Culture Minister, while Angela Gerekou, whose husband is a convicted tax cheat, is the new deputy. The new government will have 46 members, including 32 from New Democracy, although Samaras had promised to have a smaller Cabinet when he was elected. The Cabinet will be sworn in on June 10 at 3:30 p.m. by Archbishop Ieronymos, before Greek President Karolos Papoulias. As announced by the new government spokeswoman, Sofia Voultepsi – who replaced Simos Kedikoglou – it will be the following: Prime Minister: Antonis Samaras Government Vice-President and Foreign Minister: Evangelos Venizelos Deputy: Dimitris Kourkoulas Deputy: Akis Gerontopoulos Finance Minister: Gikas Hardouvelis Alternate: Christos Staikouras Deputy: Giorgos Mavraganis Administrative Reform and E-Governance Minister: Kyriakos Mitsotakis Deputy: Evi Christophilopoulou Interior Minister: Argyris Dinopoulos Deputy: Theofilos Leontaridis Deputy: Giorgos Dolios National Defence Minister: Dimitris Avramopoulos Alternate: Fofi Genimata Deputy: Giannis Lambropoulos Development and Competitiveness Minister: Nikos Dendias Deputy: Odysseas Constantinopoulos Deputy: Gerasimos Giakoumatos Deputy: Notis Mitarachi Infrastructure, Transport and Networks Minister: Michalis Chryssohoidis Deputy: Michalis Papadopoulos Environment, Energy & Climate Change Minister: Yiannis Maniatis Alternate: Nikolaos Tagaras Deputy: Asimakis Papageorgiou Education and Religious Affairs Minister: Andreas Loverdos Deputy: Alexandros Dermetzopoulos Deputy: Constantinos Koukodimos Culture and Sports Minister: Constantinos Tassoulas Deputy: Angela Gerekou Deputy Minister for Sports: Yiannis Andrianos Labour, Social Security and Welfare Minister: Yiannis Vroutsis Deputy: Vassilis Kegeroglou Deputy: Antonios Bezas Deputy: Yiannis Plakiotakis Health Minister: Makis Voridis Alternate: Leonidas Grigorakos Deputy: Katerina Papakosta Rural Development and Food Minister: Giorgos Karasmanis Alternate: Paris Koukoulopoulos Justice, Transparency and Human Rights Minister: Charalambos Athanassiou Public Order and Citizen Protection Minister: Vassilios Kikilias Tourism Minister: Olga Kefalogianni Shippping and Aegean Minister: Miltiadis Varvitsiotis Macedonia-Thrace Minister: Giorgos Orfanos State Minister: Dimitris Stamatis Government Spokesman and Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister: Sofia Voultepsi

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT greece.greekreporter.com