Greek Government Announces Cabinet Reshuffle-The 8 New Faces

The Greek government announced a cabinet reshuffle on Friday evening, after multiple delays.
The new administration is the following:
– Prime Minister: Alexis Tsipras
– Government Vice President: Giannis Dragasakis
– State Ministry: State Minister Nikos Pappas, Transparency Minister Panagiotis Nikoloudis, Government Work Coordination Minister Alekos Flabouraris, Deputy Minister Terence Quick
– Economy, Infrastructure, Maritime and Tourism Ministry: Minister Giorgos Stathakis, Maritime Deputy Minister Thodoris Dritsas, Tourism Deputy Minister Elena Kountoura, Deputy Minister Christos Spirtzis
– Interior and Administrative Reconstruction Ministry: Minister Nikos Voutsis,  Public Order and Civil Protection Deputy Minister Giannis Panousis, Deputy Minister Christoforos Vernardakis, Vice Minister Tasia Christodoulopoulou, Vice Minister Maria Kollia-Tsaroucha, Deputy Minister Pavlos Polakis
– Finance Ministry: Minister Euclid Tsakalotos, Deputy Minister Trifon Alexiadis, Deputy Minister Dimitris Mardas
– Defense Ministry: Minister Panos Kammenos, Deputy Minister Dimitris Vitsas, Vice Minister Nikos Toskas
– Foreign Ministry: Minister Nikos Kotzias, Deputy Minister Sia Anagnostopoulou, Deputy Minister Giannis Amanatidis
– Production Reconstruction, Environment and Energy Ministry: Minister Panos Skourletis, Deputy Minister Giannis Tsironis, Deputy Minister Vangelis Apostolou, Vice Minister Panagiotis Sgouridis
– Justice Transparency and Human Rights Ministry: Minister Nikos Paraskevopoulos,  Deputy Minister Dimitris Papagelopoulos
– Labor Ministry: Minister George Katrougalos, Deputy Minister Theano Fotiou, Deputy Minister Rania Antonopoulou, Deputy Minister: Pavlos Haikalis
– Health and Social Security Ministry: Minister Panagiotis Kouroublis, Deputy Minister Andreas Xanthos
– Culture, Education and Religion Ministry: Minister Aristidis Baltas, Deputy Minister Tasos Kourakis, Research and innovation Deputy Minister Kostas Fotakis, Sports Deputy Minister Stavros Kontonis, Deputy Minister Nikos Xydakis
– Government Spokesperson: Olga Gerovasili
– Parliamentary Spokespersons: Nikos Filis, Gavriil Sakelaridis, Alexandros Triantafilidis
By the order of the Prime Minister, a Special Committee to Combat Corruption is proposed, under State Minister Panagiotis Nikoloudis.The Deputy Finance Minister responsible for revenue Trifon Alexiadis, Deputy Minister of Interior and Administrative Reconstruction Pavlos Polakis, Deputy Minister of Justice, Transparency and Human Rights Dimitris Papagelopoulos and Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister, responsible for the coordination of the government’s work, Terence Quick will participate in the Committee.

 Tsipras accused his MPs,  among them three ministers who voted against the bailout deal, of displaying a lack of camaraderie and solidarity. Production Reconstruction, Environment and Energy Ministry Panagiotis Lafaznis, Deputy Health Minister Dimitris Stratoulis and Deputy Minister of National Defense Kostas Isichos were all sacked from their ministerial posts for their dissent.
Until now government spokesperson Gabriel Sakellaridis, became the new SYRIZA parliamentary spokesperson, while the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Choundis will now resume his seat at the European Parliament.
The inauguration of the new cabinet, initially set to take place later on Friday evening, was postponed until Saturday morning due to the extensive fires that broke out all over Greece.
These are the eight new members of the SYRIZA-ANEL cabinet:

Christoforos Vernardakis The new Deputy Minister of Interior and Administrative Reconstruction was a SYRIZA MP candidate in January 2015. He is a political science professor at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and is also the founder of the public opinion poll company, VPRC.

Trifon Alexiadis
Alexiadis replaces the recently departed Nadia Valavani as the Deputy Minister of Finance. He is the vice-president of the tax office employees federation. Alexiadis has also been in charge of designing SYRIZA’s tax policy.

Pavlos Polakis
The new Deputy Minister of Interior and Administrative Reconstruction is a surgeon that hails from the island Crete. Polakis has been a SYRIZA MP since January 2015 and was previously the mayor of the Cretan village Sfakia.

Sia Anagnostopoulou
She is the new Deputy Foreign Minister. She has been a SYRIZA MP since January 2015. Anagnostopoulou is also a member of SYRIZA’s Central Committee and sits on the board of directors of the SYRIZA newspaper AVGI.

Giannis Amanatidis
Amanatidis will also hold the Deputy Foreign Minister’s post. He is a school teacher and has been a SYRIZA MP since 2012. Amanatidis has also participated in various trade unions along the years.

Pavlos Haikalis
He is the new Deputy Minister of Social Security. Haikalis is a well known professional actor and has been an MP with the Independent Greeks party since June 2012.
 

Dimitris Vitsas
The New Deputy Minister of Defence is a long time SYRIZA party member. He was a member of the Greek Communist Party (KKE) until the early 1990’s and he is known for having a close relationship with Alexis Tsipras.

Olga Gerovasili
The new Government Spokesperson is a doctor and has been a SYRIZA MP since May 2012. Georvasili was the SYRIZA Parliamentary Spokesperson before becoming Government Spokesperson, essentialy switching posts with Gabriel Sakelaridis.