Following his victory in legislative elections held on 25 January 2015, the newly elected Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras appointed a new cabinet to succeed the cabinet of Antonis Samaras, his predecessor. A significant reshuffle took place on 17 July 2015.
Tsipras resigned as Prime Minister on 20 August 2015, and after opposition parties failed to form their own government, on 27 August Vassiliki Thanou-Christophilou was appointed as an interim Prime Minister, and her caretaker cabinet was sworn in on 28 August. Following the subsequent September legislative election, Tsipras was re-appointed as Prime Minister on 21 September and appointed a second cabinet that was sworn in on 23 September.
Composition of the cabinet
The cabinet is composed of 35 members, alongside 6 deputy ministers. Including the deputy ministers the cabinet comprises 6 females and 35 males. It reflects the majority coalition in Parliament. It is composed of the winning Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) with the support of the right-wing anti-austerity party, Independent Greeks (ANEL). The Ecologist Greens (OP), which had withdrawn from the election in support of SYRIZA, were given the office of Alternate Minister of Environment and Energy. Finally, some ministers do not belong to any party.
Oath of office
Most members of the cabinet were sworn in on 27 January 2015, with the exception of the new Minister of Justice Nikos Paraskevopoulos , who was sworn in a day later, and the Alternate Ministers Christodoulopoulou, Spirtzis and Fotakis who were sworn in almost two months later.
While most representatives of Syriza chose a civil oath of office, the ANEL representatives as well as Yiannis Panousis, Dimitris Mardas and Panagiotis Nikoloudis chose a religious oath before a representative of the Greek orthodox Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens.
Cabinet list
Prime Minister
Government Ministries
The number of ministries has been reduced to ten, including four merged ministries: The merged Ministry of Interior and Administrative Reconstruction succeeds the ministries of 1) Interior, 2) Administrative Reform and E-Government, 3) Public Order and Citizen Protection, and 4) Macedonia and Thrace. The merged Ministry of Economy, Infrastructure, Marine and Tourism succeeds the ministries of 1) Development and Competitiveness, 2) Marine and Aegean, 3) Tourism, and 4) Infrastructure, Transport and Networks. The merged Ministry of Productive Reconstruction, Environment and Energy succeeds the ministries of 1) Environment, Energy and Climate Change, 2) Rural Development and Food, and 3) the services of the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Industry Development and Competitiveness. The merged Ministry of Culture, Education and Religious Affairs succeeds the ministries of 1) Culture and Sport, and 2) Education.
Alternate Ministers are directly assigned special responsibilities and powers by the prime minister, including: full parliamentary powers and, in conjunction with the minister, the legislative initiative the right to issue individual and normative acts, and to propose individual and normative decrees
Full ministers however retain: the identification of ministerial policy in the cabinet the representation in bodies of the European Union the appointment of administrative agencies, public services and personnel
Deputy ministers are assigned with responsibilities and powers by the prime minister and the full minister they report to.
Ministers of State
Bold denotes full ministers attending the weekly cabinet council. a Deputy ministers are not members of the cabinet but may attend cabinet meetings. References:
Changes
Resignations
Yanis Varoufakis, the Minister of Finance, resigned on 6 July 2015, following the 'No' vote in the Greek bailout referendum. In a blog post on his website, Varoufakis wrote: "Soon after the announcement of the referendum results, I was made aware of a certain preference by some Eurogroup participants, and assorted 'partners', for my... 'absence' from its meetings; an idea that the prime minister judged to be potentially helpful to him in reaching an agreement. For this reason I am leaving the Ministry of Finance today." Varoufakis was succeeded as Minister of Finance by Euclid Tsakalotos. Tsakalotos in turn left his role as Alternate Minister of International Economic Affairs, leaving the position vacant.