April 26, 2024

Athens News

News in English from Greece

And you, friends, no matter how you sit down …

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis carried out a number of reshuffles in the country’s cabinet of ministers. This was announced on Tuesday by government spokesman Ioannis Iconou.

The rating of the ruling “New Democracy” is rapidly falling, and this can be seen even in custom ratings that are periodically issued by local rating agencies.

In a frantic attempt to save the situation, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis made certain reshuffles, dismissing, first of all, the Minister of Civil Protection (ΥΠΟΥΡΓΕΙΟ ΠΡΟΣΤΑΣΙΑΣ ΤΟΥ ΠΟΛΙΤΗ) Michalis Chrysochoidis, who was replaced by Panagiotis Theodorikakos.

Another power ministry appeared – the Ministry of Civil Protection (ΥΠΟΥΡΓΕΙΟ ΠΟΛΙΤΙΚΗΣ ΠΡΟΣΤΑΣΙΑΣ), headed by retired admiral Evangelos Apostolakis, he was also in the SYRIZA government. Recall that Theodorikakos was already in the government, but during the reshuffle on January 4, 2021, he left the cabinet of ministers, which was surprising for many who considered him a very close ally of Kyriakos Mitsotakis. However, the Prime Minister reinstated him in the government, providing the “heavy” Ministry of Citizens’ Protection, sending Chrysochoidis to retirement.

Nikos Hardalias, who for more than a year and a half was actually the face of the Ministry of Citizens’ Protection, and also coordinated the policy on measures to protect against coronavirus by the police, went to the post of Deputy Minister of National Defense.

Another important change: Minister of Health Vasilis Kikilias was sent to engage in tourism, the Ministry of Culture and Sports was excommunicated from tourism, and Haris Feocharis was left without a portfolio.

Athanasios Pleuris became the Minister of Health, and Mina Gaga, a pulmonologist and coordinator of the Sotiria Hospital, became the Deputy Minister.

A member of many governments, Simos Kedikoglu takes over as Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food, in charge of the company also for fisheries policy.

The reshuffle also took place at the level of deputy heads of departments. In particular, Andreas Katsaniotis has been appointed to the post of Deputy Foreign Minister for Greeks Abroad. Michalis Papadopoulos became the Deputy Minister of Transport.

New members of the Greek Cabinet of Ministers have already been sworn in. The first meeting of the updated composition of the government is scheduled for September 2.

Opposition reaction

“Mr. Mitsotakis, with his choice, cynically acknowledged his disastrous failure,” emphasizes SYRIZA in its reorganization announcement. “He celebrated the ‘successful’ management of the pandemic and fired Mr. Kikilias to appoint a scapegoat. He celebrated because “the firefighting was successful,” and therefore he fired the competent ministers, ”the main opposition party commented on the situation.

“Finally, Mr. Mitsotakis honors the family tradition of apostasy. “Under pressure from his catastrophic failure in fires and after high-quality work burned half the country in apnea, he is now looking for a lifeline in acquiring executives against positions under the guise of alleged consent.”

“But whoever failure succeeds, it will have a name: Kyriakos Mitsotakis. And citizens face Mr. Mitsotakis’s catastrophic failure in their daily lives.”

The Change Movement commented on the reshuffle as a setback, a turn to the right, and an acknowledgment of the government’s inability to cope with the pandemic and wildfires. According to the party’s press release, the current reshuffle is in recognition of the government’s total refusal to address key pandemic and disaster relief issues.

“Mr. Mitsotakis continues to turn right in an obvious way. The presence of Messrs. Voridi-Georgiadi-Plevri in important ministerial posts dispels the ‘myth’ of centrist politics,” emphasizes the Movement for Change, pointing out that “the only discovery that has been made is this is a crisis for the New Democracy, evidently in view of the upcoming elections. ”He concludes by stating,“ Instead of restarting, full speed reversal. ”

“The reshuffle in the government is not a kind of” reset “, but a” strengthening “of the anti-popular work of the government with the” sacrifice “of some ministers associated with the recent disasters and in order to hide the overall political responsibility,” the press service said in a statement. KKE.

“At the same time, ministers (labor, education, health, etc.) either remain in their former place, or join the government, which consistently and passionately serves all anti-popular decisions. In any case, public policy is not primarily a question of “structures” or “persons”, it is a question of strategy, and it is firmly oriented towards the pursuit of capital and to the detriment of the needs of the people.

The rearrangement of Mr. Mitsotakis was not and could not be anything other than a simple rearrangement of the seats of the Titanic, – this is how the government changes in the MEPA25 party commented.





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