The “strange bedfellows” Tsipras government became even more “politically peculiar” on Tuesday with a mini Cabinet reshuffle that sees a former New Democracy minister and MP appointed as the deputy minister for public order, and a former PASOK party secretary and minister appointed as an out-of-Parliament minister for the “administrative restructuring” portfolio.
In a bid to boost his poll-trailing government, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras appointed an “old guard” conservative, Katerina Papakosta, as the deputy public order minister, with long-time SYRIZA cadre Olga Gerovassili shifted to the minister’s seat from the public administration ministry.
Papakosta left center-right and main opposition New Democracy (ND) this year, from which she was elected to Parliament multiple times from the second Piraeus election district, the latest time being in September 2015.
The other political surprise involved the appointment of one-time top social PASOK cadre Mariliza Xenogiannakopoulou to the public administration reform portfolio.
Panagiotis Kouroumblis was also axed as the shipping minister, as was Stavros Kontonis from the justice ministry and actress Lydia Koniordou from the culture portfolio.
Kouroumblis, however, was nominated by Tsipras to serve as the leftist party’s main parliamentary spokesman.
