Greece PM set on boosting party image

ATHENS: Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is poised to announce a cabinet reshuffle this week to freshen up a government lagging in the polls as the effects of painful bailouts bite a year before a national election.

A meeting of senior figures in his leftist Syriza party to launch a process for the selection of a new secretary yesterday will probably pave the way for the reshuffle, which will not be wide-ranging, sources say.

The government needed to “renew itself before the next election”, a government source said.

Greece holds parliamentary elections every four years, with the next expected by October next year at the latest.

Based on the latest three opinion polls conducted by Greek media, Syriza is trailing the main opposition New Democracy conservatives by between 5.3 and 11.6 percentage points.

Tsipras was elected in 2015. He promised to end years of austerity for Greece, imposed by international creditors. But he was forced to reverse course by the prospect of the country being kicked out of the euro zone and to pursue deeper reforms under a third international bailout.

Austerity and political turmoil followed as the economy shrank by a quarter, pushing a third of the population into poverty and forcing the migration of thousands abroad.

The country emerged from that bailout programme last week. Greece has received €288 billion (R4.7 trillion)in financial aid since 2010, making it the biggest bailout in history.

Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos, who steered the country’s exit from the third bailout, would probably remain in his post, sources said. Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias, who was instrumental in brokering an accord ending years of dispute with Macedonia over its name, was also expected to stay on board.

Panos Skourletis, a Syriza stalwart who is interior minister, was widely speculated to be moving to a senior role within the party and out of the cabinet.

“Changes would make the party more effective and grounded, while the reshuffle should deliver a government ready for battle,” another government source said. – Reuters