–Papaconstantinou Ousted In Reshuffle Expected To Be Announced Today
ATHENS (MNI) – Greece’s Defense Minister Evangelos Venizelos will
be named as the new finance minister, replacing George Papaconstantinou
in a government reshuffle expected to be announced later today by Prime
Minister George Papandreou, according to Greek media reports.
Evangelos, the top political rival to Papandreou for leadership of
the Pasok (Socialist) party, will also be named vice president of the
government, the reports said. The appointment of Evangelos to the
sensitive and currently unpopular finance portfolio is seen as a
political maneuver by Papandreou to manage any challenge to his
leadership from Evangelos.
Papaconstantinou has become extremely unpopular in Greece, in large
part because he is directly responsible for overseeing a draconian
austerity plan that has brought tens of thousands of protesters into the
streets almost every day for the past month. The outgoing finance
minister is expected to be offered another, lower profile, cabinet post,
the press reported.
After naming his new government, Papandreou is expected to seek a
vote of confidence in Parliament. That will be a key test of whether he
will be able to secure passage of a new set of deficit-cutting measures
totaling E28 billion and a E50 billion privatization plan.
Their approval by the end of this month is a condition imposed by
the EU and the International Monetary Fund for disbursement of a E12
tranche of Greece’s E110 billion bailout package, without which the
country will be unable to meet financial obligations coming due in
mid-July and would be forced to default.
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