New York Times — Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras shuffled his cabinet on Friday, dismissing ministers who have objected to economic changes and austerity measures demanded by the country’s creditors.
Eager to push through bailout measures so his negotiators can begin talks with their European counterparts on relief for Greece’s huge debt, Mr. Tsipras retained his core economic team. Euclid Tsakalotos, an economist who has been described as low-key and has made headway with his eurozone peers in bailout talks, kept the critical job of finance minister.
But in what appeared to be an effort to please Greece’s creditors, Mr. Tsipras replaced Energy Minister Panos Skourletis, who has opposed the full privatization of Greece’s electric power system, with the more moderate economy minister, Giorgos Stathakis. The labour minister, Giorgos Katrougalos, who has been criticized for the slow pace of efforts to streamline Greece’s pension system, was replaced by a young aide.
One of Mr. Tsipras’s key aides, Dimitris Liakos, was moved from his job running the prime minister’s economic office to oversee the enforcement of Greece’s bailout program.
The new cabinet is to be sworn in Saturday. The prime minister’s coalition is trailing the political opposition in opinion polls, and the cabinet shuffle was also a step toward addressing Mr. Tsipras’s declining approval ratings.
