Samaras Refs Minister’s Battle Over College Firings

Just after swearing in a new Cabinet, Prime Minister and New Democracy Conservative leader Antonis Samaras has had to step in between two of his ministers who are arguing over whether to rehire university staff fired as part of reforms he has pushed. New Education Minister Andreas Loverdos wants to bring back 800 of 1,135 college staff workers who last year were put into a so-called “mobility scheme,” in which they were paid reduced wages for eight months and will be let go unless another position can be found for them. But the man who laid them off, Administrative Reform Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is upset that Loverdos, who had quit PASOK before recently rejoining the party, is trying to usurp his authority and reverse his call. Loverdos is backed by his PASOK leader, Deputy Prime Minister Evangelos Venizelos, who is serving in Samaras’ coalition and has usually relented to what the Premier wants. The frozen staff will be let go on June 15 unless rehired. Mitsotakis said that the government cannot afford to rehire more than 500 university employees as it has to also abide by the target for civil service sackings it agreed with its international lenders, the Troika of the European Union-International Monetary Fund-European Central Bank (EU-IMF-ECB). Greece pledged last year that it would fire 15,000 civil servants by the end of 2014. Venizelos, who was elevated after agreeing to the firing of all 2,653 workers last year at the now-defunct ERT national broadcaster, has occasionally squawked about more firings and other reforms before giving in. Apart from how many workers could be brought back – and who they are – Mitsotakis said he believes too many rehirings could send out the message that the government is relenting in its efforts to carry out structural reforms. Earlier this week, the IMF warned that “adjustment fatigue has set in” and that the government is finding it “difficult to move forward boldly and swiftly with needed reforms.” Another of Samaras’ new appointees, government spokewoman Sofia Voultepsi, also created a brouhaha when she wrote a piece saying government should be left to politicians and not technocrats, an indirect swipe at former Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras, who was brought in from a think tank to be the country’s top financial officer. Stournaras is now headed to the Bank of Greece to take over as Governor but career politicians had carped against him as he stood strong on reforms while many of them complained it had put them in difficult positions – which they also backed, but after making some wan protests. In the piece published online, Voultepsi argued that technocrats offer “the safe road toward catastrophe.” She also criticized the liberalization measures recommended by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), labeling them a “technocratic creation” that had failed to bring down prices.

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