By Stavros Lygeros

After the government reshuffle, it now remains to be seen whether the prime minister’s choices will pan out. His expectations of his new Cabinet do not just concern the way the government is run; it is also about creating the impression of a new, dynamic beginning that will dispel the pessimistic mood that has hung over the administration. But, while reshuffles can create a strong impression, they rarely overturn the balance of power all on their own.

Hope may rise, but opinion polls show that Costas Karamanlis’s government is sinking. New Democracy’s shrinking standings are not the result of a glitch but of a gradual and steady decline that greatly limits the possibility of a comeback. When you also factor in that Karamanlis does not appear to have a Plan B as well as the state of the global economy, then any comeback seems even more unlikely.

Dropping the ministers involved in the Vatopedi land swap scandal and sacrificing Giorgos Alogoskoufis and Christos Folias were moves of necessity, though likely not enough to reverse the climate. Yiannis Papathanassiou and Costis Hatzidakis have good knowledge of the market, they are flexible and practical but they have been being called in to rescue a sinking ship in the middle of a storm. They also have to do so as members of a new Cabinet that has yet to earn the leverage necessary to push through reforms. On a party level, the biggest change in the reshuffle was giving Antonis Samaras a ministry. The Culture Ministry may not be one of the strongest portfolios, but it is certainly better than the time bomb that is the Health Ministry. While Samaras may not hold much sway within the government, he does have political clout, and this will become of significance should Karamanlis decide to step down either before or after elections, because his supporters and those who remain unaligned will either stand back and watch Dora Bakoyannis’s ascent to the party’s leadership or will seek out the one person around whom they can rally to prevent that from happening.