Tsipras postpones cabinet reshuffle

The much-touted government reshuffle has been postponed for several days, following Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ national address from Ithaca on Greece’s exit from the bailout programme.

“We will not ruin people’s vacation,” was one government official’s reply when asked by journalists about the timing of the reshuffle. The official hinted that the announcement will be on 27 August.

Meanwhile, there have been rampant scenarios about who will be leaving and entering the government, and which ministers will be transferred to another cabinet post.

A key focus of attention has been Interior Minister Panos Skourletis, under whose ministry the Civil Protection Secretariat that botched the handling of the Mati fire operated.

Here, the most likely scenario is that he will leave the government to assume the post of SYRIZA party secretary, and sources say that he has held meetings recently with the PM to discuss the issue.

In the top party post he would play a leading role in rallying party members and the narrow political base ahead of the next general elections.

Skourletis said yesterday that the relationship between the party and the government  should be redefined, so as to increase the emphasis on the role of the party.

“The party is not a subsidiary of the government. It will exist after the government,” Skourletis told 24/7 radio, noting that there were also many scenarios about his role in the last reshuffle.

“There are no posts that are tied to individuals. The party secretary is elected by the Central Committee, while the cabinet is appointed by the prime minister,” the interior minister said.

Luring the centre-left

The third objective of the reshuffle is SYRIZA’s opening toward centre-left voters and politicians.

In that context, it has been rumoured that former Pasok ministers Yannis Ragousis and Mariliza Xenogiannakopoulou may be appointed to cabinet positions.

Some believe that Tsipras may also pick a respected centre-right politician, in a bid to create fissures on the right-wing of the political spectrum.