If there is one thing that Alexis Tsipras can be credited for following Sunday’s elections, it is that he has moved swiftly to establish a government and begin moving on pre-election pledges, dispelling concern that the post-election period would be marked by uncertainty and drawn-out wrangling behind closed doors.
While forming a coalition with the Independent Greeks party may have caused consternation among many in and outside of Greece (the term ‘strange bedfellows’ is enjoying a dramatic surge in popularity), the groundwork for the partnership had clearly been laid before the elections. While it remains to be seen whether the alliance may ultimately prove to be an unholy one, causing more problems than it solves, it opened the way for a cabinet to be sworn in and ministers to begin taking up their posts less than 72 hours after the polls closed.
Tsipras has reorganized the Greek government, merging a number of key ministries into ‘super ministries’ and creating new bodies chiefly in the fight against corruption.
See here for a full list of the make-up and structure of the cabinet.
Already based on statements made by the new cabinet members, the SYRIZA-led government has pivoted away from many policies implemented by the previous governments.
Many of these were implemented as Memorandum obligations meaning that in effect the SYRIZA government has already turned its back on the terms of Greece’s bailout agreement (as indeed it said it would).
Here are some of the key changes:
Privatizations
SYRIZA has long opposed the privatization programme demanded by the country’s lenders in order to open up Greece’s economy and generate revenue to service the debt.
In his new role as Minister of Productive Restructuring, Environment and Energy, Panagiotis Lafazanis (of the more hardline ‘Left Platform’ within SYRIZA) told Mega channel that one of the priorities of his ‘super ministry’ would be to freeze all efforts to privatize the Public Power Corporation (DEH).
“The PPC will return to the state as a state-run company which will operate for the benefit of growth and with strictly productive, and of course environmental, criteria. It will be a new PPC which will provide important assistance for the country to move forward with productive restructuring,” Mr Lafazanis said.
Christos Spirtzis, the Deputy Minister for infrastructure also effectively announced that the government would move to halt the privatization of 14 regional airports, saying with regards to that effort, “The central position of the government is to stop the privatizations of infrastructure which serve and can help the development of the country.”
Similarly the new Deputy Minister of Shipping, Thodoros Dritsas stressed that the port of Piraeus would remain in public hands. Arriving to the swearing in ceremony yesterday, Dritsas told reporters, “The first thing we are in a position to announce is that the public character of Piraeus will be preserved and the privatization of OLP stops here,” indicating that the process to sell off 67.7% of the shares in the organisation that manages the port would be frozen.
Minimum wage & Pensions
Sticking to a pre-election pledge, Panos Scourletis, the Minister of Labour and Social Solidarity said that among the first legislative measures to be passed by the government would be the restoration of the minimum wage to 751 euros / month. Collective bargaining rights would also be strengthened and the prohibition of mass layoffs strengthened.
Skoureltis reportedly told ANT1 channel that, “Among the first draft laws are those which relate to collective contracts, forced mobilizations and of course all those that relate to protections in relation to the mass layoffs and with the return of the minimum wage to 751 euros.” He told the channel that the draft legislation was ready to be tabled in parliament.
Dimitris Stratoulis, the Deputy Minister of Social Security, speaking to the same channel also said that SYRIZA would honour its commitment to reinstating 13th pension payments and supplementary pensions to pensioners receiving less than 700 euros per month.
Public Sector Workers
The new Deputy Minister of Administrative Reform, Giorgos Katrougalos announced the re-hiring of state sector workers, such as cleaners, school guards, teachers and all those whose dismissal was based on “unconstitutional frameworks such as that of the mobility scheme.”
“It is our commitment and one of the first measures we will take. All of the dismissals will be recalled which have been done and which are unconstitutional, given that they are based on an unconstitutional framework such as that of the mobility scheme, with no evaluation prior to the dismissal. I remind you that we are talking about people such as the cleaners and school guards, the weakest of people who were the focus of the supposed reform efforts of the previous government. That is a first injustice which will be corrected.”
Education
The Ministry of Education will reinstate administrative workers placed in the mobility scheme, roll back legislation expelling ‘eternal’ students and rehire school guards.
Cheaper drugs
Health Minister Panagiotis Kouroublis said his priority would be to reduce the cost of drugs for patients and address the problem of the uninsured.
“The first issue is to address the issue of the uninsured and the policies which were followed in specific areas such as drugs from which we believe that with our intervention there will be multiple benefits which can be reinvested in the system.” Kouroublis added that he would ask hospital administrations to provide accounting details so that he may get a better understanding of the situation.
Police
While during the pre-eleciton campaign Alexis Tsipras stated that he wished to disarm riot police at protests, Yiannis Panousis, the Deputy Minister of Protection of Citizens, said that he was not in favor of such a move.
However he stressed that a relationship of trust had to be rebuilt between the police and the public, drawing a distinction between combating terrorism and policing a rally. “The police will have weapons at protests, but that doesn’t mean that they will intimidate and terrorize,” adding that the police needed to support, not undermine democracy.
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