(reposting of the post “Composition of the new government” under a new title)

Following his swearing-in as Prime Minister on Monday 26^th June, Kyriakos Mitsotakis lost no time in appointing the members of his new government. A full list was published on Monday afternoon, and on Tuesday at 1.00 pm the 63 new ministers, alternate ministers and deputy ministers arrived at the Presidential Mansion to be sworn in by Archbiship Ieronymos in the presence of the Prime Minister and the President Katerina Sakellaropoulou.

As with the Prime Minister’s swearing-in the previous day, it was very much a family occasion, the new ministers arriving with spouses, in many cases small children and even a baby in arms. Accosted by the waiting journalists as they left the building after the ceremony, they pronounced themselves eager to get to grips with the new tasks awaiting them.

As pledged by Kyriakos Mitsotakis before the election, the new government contains an increased number of women, who now constitute 25 per cent of the total. There are 15 in all – 4 ministers, 1 alternate minister and 10 deputy ministers, as against 3 ministers and 6 deputy ministers in the previous government. A new ministry of Social Cohesion and Family has been created.

Cretans in the new government
Crete is well represented in the new government, with several members natives of Crete or representing Cretan constituencies:
– The Finance minister Kostis Hatzidakis is a native of Rethymnon.
– Olga Kefalogianni, who has ancestry on her father’s side in Anogeia in Rethymnon, is Tourism minister, repeating a role which she undertook in the government of Antonis Samaras from 2012 to 2015.
– Her cousin Giannis Kefalogiannis, who was born in Rethymnon and is MP for the nomos, is deputy minister for Defence.
– Born in Messara in the nomos of Heraklion, Lefteris Avgenakis, who was formerly deputy minister for Sport, is now minister of Agricultural Development and Food.
– Maximos Senatakis, a native of Heraklion and MP for the nomos, is deputy minister for Development.
– The new deputy minister for Labour and Social Security Vasilis Spanakis is also of Cretan extraction.
– The alternate minister for Health, Eirini Agapidaki, has her roots in Lasithi.

The first meeting of ministers
On Wednesday afternoon, the Prime Minister held a first general meeting of ministers, including all the alternate and deputy ministers, to acquaint them with what was expected of them. Mr Mitsotakis started by saying that the government was in a unique situation, since never before had a party been voted into power for a second time with a higher percentage of the vote, and with such a large difference between it and the opposition parties:

“We are both proud and also grateful to the Greek people for their choice. But the responsibilities which we are taking on are also unprecedented. Expectations are very high as you know very well, and we have an obligation to express them, as they are derived from a broad popular current which put their trust in us. Women and men of every age, every social category, who recognise in our programme the future of their households, the lives of their families, but of the prosperity of the country as a whole.”

Referring to the “adventure” of proportional representation imposed by the SYRIZA government, he noted that it resulted in the failure of the May election to produce a majority government. As a consequence, he said, 800,000 citizens suffering from “election fatigue” did not vote in the second election, while others cast their vote “frivolously” to minority parties.

Passing on to the government’s plans for the next four years, he reminded his listeners of the four main directions of its strategy – “better pay, better public health, a better government, a better life in a strong Greece”. The blue folders which awaited every minister at the meeting contained “120 changes, 79 milestones of the Reconstruction Fund … as well as 959 operational actions” to be carried out over the next 4 years.

He would start immediately a round of visits to the different ministries, he said, starting with the Finance ministry, which he described as being at the heart of the government’s plans for the next 4 years. “Without a rapidly developing economy there is no prosperous society. It is development which combats the greatest social injustice, which is none other than unemployment, and we have moreover demonstrated that we know the way in which collective success is also translated into personal success. The communal state must be one which is based on firm economic foundations …”

Recalling that the government passed over 400 laws in its first term he emphasised that the aim must not be just to pass laws, but to ensure their correct application, This, he said, required “hands-on work” by ministers. Finally, he emphasised that government is a collective enterprise. Each minister has a duty not only to execute their own projects, but to support the work of the government as a whole. “Liga logia, poly douleia” – “few words, much work” should be their guiding principle.