PM excludes 11 in government reshuffle
Mitsotakis replaces four minister but keeps those of finance, foreign affairs, showing policy continuity
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has sought to rekindle his center-right government’s spark with a reshuffle on Friday, excluding 11 members.
The move, which came amid a persistent cost-of-living crisis and a disappointing showing in the European Parliament election, also showed intent to demonstrate policy consistency with the foreign and finance ministers keeping their places.
The changes had enough background to exclude 11 members of the government from the scheme, including four ministers, Kostas Skrekas, Dimitris Kairidis, Domna Michailidou and Lefteris Avgenakis, as well as seven deputy ministers, Harry Theoharis, Stathis Konstantinidis, Christina Alexopoulou, Maximos Senetakis, Maria Kefala, Stavros Keletsis and Yannis Pappas.
A government source initially told Kathimerini that in principle anyone who looks closely at the list of new ministers will see that they are “low-key” officials who have never caused any negative publicity with their behavior. There was, however, a specific rationale behind each choice.
For instance it was felt that Takis Theodorikakos, as minister of development, could best handle the cost-of-living crisis, both in terms of substance and communication. Moreover, Theodorikakos is clearly considered to be more “layman” and “tougher” than Skrekas.
As for Kairidis, it was not that the government was dissatisfied with his work on migration, but more because he was not thought to be a good fit with the Migration and Asylum Ministry. His place was taken by Nikos Panagiotopoulos, a more right-wing official whose tenure at the Defense Ministry more clearly sends the message the government wants to get across.
The choice of Kostas Tsiaras as the new minister of rural development is a no-brainer given his country-boy origins. His predecessor Lefteris Avgenakis, who, however well-intentioned he may have been, in practice, reportedly, created tensions everywhere.
The replacement of “error-prone” Michailidou at the Labor Ministry by Niki Kerameus, who was moved from the Interior Ministry, was also a bid to inject more experience.
Thodoris Livanios has been upgraded to the position of interior minister, with the main purpose of reforming the Supreme Council for Civil Personnel Selection (ASEP).
Giorgos Mylonakis joins the government as deputy minister instead of minister. A close and trusted partner of the prime minister for years, he will undertake together with Makis Voridis to bolster the political clout of the Maximos Mansion.
