The results of Sunday’s SYRIZA elections proved that there are political differences between the party and the cabinet.
The ballot to elect the party’s Central Committee and Political Secretariat sent the message to Alexis Tsipras that there are some disagreements over his choice of cabinet members.
The SYRIZA Central Committee did not vote for Government Spokesperson Olga Gerovasili and Culture Minister Aristides Baltas, two persons who were among the 11 proposed by Tsipras.
In addition to that, two persons not proposed by the prime minister were elected in the Political Secretariat. Fotini Vaki and Tasia Christodoulopoulou were elected despite the fact that they were not among Tsipras’ favorites for the Political Secretariat.
Energy Minister Panos Skourletis was proposed by participants, but he refused to participate. Skourletis was not among Tsipras’ proposals. Coming out of the meeting, the energy minister told reporters that if he is stripped of his duty as minister, he wouldn’t have a problem being a member of parliament again.
Election results generate new reshuffle scenarios
The election results generated new scenarios on the upcoming cabinet reshuffle. According to sources close to Maximos Mansion, the results have puzzled Tsipras and made him rethink some of the ministry changes he had in mind.
The names of Euclid Tsakalotos, Nikos Filis, Andreas Xanthos, Panos Skourletis, Pavlos Polakis, — who received the most votes in the SYRIZA Conference — are most likely to remain in the cabinet.
The vote for the Political Secretariat also reaffirmed the power of Nikos Voutsis and Rena Dourou.
There is a remote possibility that the cabinet reshuffle announcements will take place as soon as Monday (today) or Tuesday. This is because President of the Republic Prokopis Pavlopoulos, who will swear in the new ministers, will depart for Thessaloniki on Wednesday for the feast of Saint Dimitrios, Patron Saint of the city (October 26).
However, government sources say that it is most likely that the prime minister will wait until the crucial decision of the Council of State on the television licensing issue, namely the constitutionality of the Nikos Pappas controversial bill. The decision will trigger political developments.
So far, the most likely persons to be removed from the cabinet are Environment and Energy Minister Panos Skourletis, Shipping Minister Theodoros Dritsas, Culture Minister Aristides Baltas and Rural Development Minister Vangelis Apostolou.
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