Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis reshuffled his cabinet on Monday in an attempt to give a boost to his conservative government.
In July 2019, Mr Mitsotakis had come under fire for the lack of female representation in Greek Parliament with only two women in the cabinet of 22. His new scheme boosts this number to four, while the LGBTI+ community also got a boost with the appointment of openly gay deputy Nicholas Yatromanolakis, 44, as the Deputy Minister for Culture.
Currently serving as the General Secretary of Contemporary Culture, Mr Yatromanolakis’ appointment is considered historic as he is the first openly gay minister in Greek history. He had previously served in the now-defunct The Potami centrist party, and was one of its founding members.
Finance Minister Christos Staikouras, Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias, and Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos remain in place, however Greek Interior Minister Takis Theodorikakos and Labour and Social Affairs Minister Kostis Hatzidakis are being replaced by Makis Voridis and Kostis Hatzidakis respectively. All up two ministers and several deputy ministers have been removed from government and replaced by others.
READ MORE: Misogyny is a Greek word too: Greece performs badly in the Gender Equality Index 2019
Kostas Skrekas is being promoted to environment and energy minister (from deputy rural development minister) and former government spokesperson and deputy minister to the prime minister, Stelios Petsas, is being promoted to alternate interior minister. He is replaced as government spokesperson by Christos Tarantilis.
Former deputy health minister Vassilis Kontozamanis remains at the health ministry but as alternate minister, while Sofia Zacharaki has been transferred from the education to the tourism ministry and Theodoros Livanios has become deputy minister to the prime minister, from deputy interior minister.
New government members joining the cabinet include the new rural development minister Spilios Livanos, deputy education ministers Zetta Makri and Angelos Syriggos, Deputy Labour Minister Maria Syreggela, Deputy Environment Minister Giorgos Amyras, Deputy Culture Minister Nikolas Yatromanolakis, Deputy Justice Minister Giorgos Kotsiras, Deputy Interior Minister for Macedonia-Thrace Stavros Kalafatis, Deputy Digital Governance Minister Giorgos Stylios, Deputy Shipping Minister Kostas Katsafados, Deputy Rural Development Minister Yiannis Economou and Deputy Migration and Asylum Minister Sofia Voultepsi.
READ MORE: New Greek PM Mitsotakis explains why there are few women in parliament
The new ministers and deputy ministers are set to be sworn in on Tuesday as part of three groups to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. The ceremonies will be held at 11:00, 11:45 and 12:30.
It is hoped that the new scheme will help kick-start the floundering Greek economy as schools reopen and the mass vaccinations kick off this month.
