Tsipras reappointed Euclid Tsakalotos as finance minister and made
George Chouliarakis deputy finance minister.
Tsakalotos, a low-key Oxford University-trained Marxist economist,
was at the finance helm when Greece and its creditors produced an 86
billion-euro loan accord on August.
Chouliarakis, who was finance minister in the caretaker government
during the recent election campaign, was a senior member of the
bailout negotiation team, known for his grasp of details.
The appointments, which came as Tsipras appointed a mostly unchanged
new Cabinet following re-election on Sunday, come ahead of a review
by lenders starting next month on progress in meeting bailout
targets, recapitalizing the country's banks and holding discussions
that Greece wants on debt relief.
"The markets will see this positively," said Takis Zamanis, chief
trader at Beta Securities in Athens. "It appeared the chemistry was
right between Tsakalotos and lenders."
Tsakalotos is a stark contrast to his combative predecessor Yanis
Varoufakis, who quit Tsipras's government in disagreement over the
bailout in July. Varoufakis frequently riled lenders with outspoken
and occasionally undiplomatic remarks, including one where he said
he wore 'creditors' loathing with pride'.
Dutch-born and British-educated Tsakalotos, however, is a member of
the so called '53+' faction in Tsipras' leftist Syriza party, some
of whose members recently expressed concerns the party was moving
away from core leftist values to hold on to power.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
The government's two main tasks will be to ensure that the bailout
given by the euro zone in exchange for deep economic reforms does
not go off track, and to handle Greece's huge refugee problem.
Of the record 430,000 refugees and migrants who have made the
journey across the Mediterranean to Europe so far this year, 309,000
have arrived via Greece, according to the International Organization
for Migration.
Many of Greece's partners, particularly in eastern Europe, want
Athens to stop allowing the refugees to pass north on a trek to
Germany and other wealthy northern countries.
Tsipras appointed Yiannis Mouzalas, an active member of the Doctors
of the World charity, as minister for migration within the interior
ministry.
[to top of second column] |
Mouzalas, who held the post in the caretaker government, has taken
part in relief missions to trouble spots like Kobane in Syria.
But it is the implementation of the bailout, which was agreed after
months of bitter negotiations in which Tsipras railed against
austerity being imposed on Greece, that will be the government's
overwhelming task.
Factions like '53+' notwithstanding, Tsipras' re-election on Sunday
made his party the dominant force in Greece. His harshest hard-left
rebel critics failed to make it into parliament.
"Alexis Tsipras now has the chance to correct the mistakes of his
(first) term," center-left newspaper Ta Nea said in an editorial.
Other reappointments included Nicos Kotzias as foreign minister,
Panos Skourletis as energy ministry and Panos Kammenos as defense
minister.
Kotzias, once a member of Greece's Communist youth, has in the past
portrayed the country as a victim of foreign interests.
Kammenos is leader of the right-wing Independent Greeks, the junior
party in Tsipras's coalition.
Skourletis has been criticized for suspending the permit for a
disputed Canadian-run gold mine project in northern Greece in
August.
(Written by Jeremy Gaunt; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
|