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Greek cabinet reshuffling will add experts in the fields of government revenues, privatization and e-governance

28 March 2011 / 14:03:44  GRReporter
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The implementation of the medium term strategy 2012-2015 and the programme for state assets exploitation admit no delay. If the budget lags and the improper fulfillment of the terms of the Memorandum of Financial Support are to be add it is more than clear that the Greek Prime Minister will have to take his decisions as quickly as possible.

According to some sources, George Papandreou is not going to overall reshuffle the government team. He, however, is discussing the possibility of improving its productivity and resorting to surprising moves is not excluded. According to unofficial information, the Greek Prime Minister intends to introduce three new people that will take over "special missions".

The new government members will be: deputy minister of finance in charge of the revenues, deputy minister of privatization whose primary task will be state assets exploitation and deputy minister of the e-government. In parallel, the formation of a new coordinating body in the form of a council with the participation of key ministers or in the form of a new interdepartmental committee is being discussed.

Particularly serious are considered the cases of ministers with significant delays in their work and who were mostly reproved by the representatives of the Troika. Government and party factors place the Minister of Environment, Energy and Climate Change Tina Birbili and the Minister of Employment and Social Security Louka Katseli in this category. "But no reshuffling of the cabinet is needed. The Prime Minister reserves the right to accept resignations, if they are submitted and now considers how to strengthen the government team," they say.

One of the new persons who will occupy the neuralgic points in the cabinet is not so new. The presumptive new deputy finance minister George Floridis has held similar positions in previous PASOK governments. The results of his work in the period 2001-2003 are considered particularly successful, and he is considered an expert in finance.

The young Elena Panariti, who is believed to take the hard work to accelerate the privatization and state assets exploitation, is one of the new persons that George Papandreou introduced to the Greek political scene. She is a university professor and an expert in the field of property rights and the appropriate management of the public sector. During her work at the World Bank she has taken an active part in the implementation of public sector reforms and property rights in Peru. For these activities of hers Elena Panariti was awarded for best practical suggestion and innovation.
 
Just a day after his resignation from the post of managing director of one of the largest Greek telecommunication companies Pantelis Tzortzakis officially took over the functions of adviser to the Prime Minister George Papandreou on issues related to the use of information and communication technologies. Well-informed sources believe that he will be appointed Deputy Minister of e-Government in order to improve the functions of the state sector and streamlining of services to citizens, but also business development and investment.
 
The government and the Prime Minister’s bet is to achieve the economic goals and create positive expectations in public opinion, reports Ethnos newspaper. They will focus primarily on development in the next period, because large government projects have been suspended and large foreign investments are still only in newspaper articles. On the other hand, the opening of the "projects and competitions" folder remains a big decision for the government, which dares not touch it because of the piles of information on the bribe-taking by political parties for their implementation in the past.  

Besides economic measures the government is expected to make and reforms in the structure and functions of the public sector. They will vote on the law on e-governance, new working hours for state institutions, a new penal law for the government, a new law on party finances and the way politicians have obtained their property, a new program to reform the central government and a new law on elections.

Despite all the rumours about this, George Papandreou’s collaborators reject the possibility of holding special elections and declare that the government will fully implement its mandate. In order to achieve cross-party agreement, the Greek Prime Minister will meet with the chairmen of the other parliamentary forces and is ready to hold them under the patronage of the president, "provided that they are prepared properly so as not to turn solely into dissemination of various rumors."

Tags: PoliticsReformsCabinetNew deputy ministersGeorge PapandreouInvestmentState property exploitationState revenuee-Government
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