Despite having been announced, the cabinet reshuffle was surprisingly extensive and the changes were blunt.
The Prime Minister Antonis Samaras acted immediately and aggressively after the double elections, without any reservations, even about the people who passionately defended his policies.
Almost all of the protagonists of the past two years have been ousted, one way or another.
Mr. Stournaras, who undertook the hardest job of the past couple years, may have received the appointment at the critical head of the Bank of Greece, as reward for his good services, but in essence he was ousted from the Ministry of Finances as the one responsible for the bad election results.
Before he departed, he was even forced to make the General Secretary of Public Revenue Mr. H. Theoharis to resign; Mr. Theoharis’ performance made the creation of the much-touted primary surpluses possible.
The same happened with the Minister of Growth Mr. K. Hatzidakis and Mr. Adonis Georgiadis. Both were removed from their posts because they were deemed unpopular.
Not even the best Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Athanasios Tsaftaris, managed to save himself from the wave of changes. He was replaced by an insignificant MP, who has all attributes and characteristics to turn back the clock 30 years for the agricultural sector, back when murky subsidies were the norm.
But most of the other newly-appointed ministers and deputies seem to have emerged from the sinful, old-time political world that caused this huge crisis.
Aside from the appointment of Gikas Hardouvelis and the transfer of Nikos Dendias to the Growth Ministry, one can sense how the populist resurgence us creating a huge antithesis in the new cabinet.
On the one hand we are told of the paramount importance of reforms and on the other the representatives of old political world and cheapness are being rewarded.
Mr. Samaras’ attempt to balance is obvious and in many ways, will lead nowhere.
Truth be told, the reshuffle confirmed the political dead end and highlighted how exhausted the current political system is. Shaken by the huge crisis and without any reserves, its credibility collapses and no intelligent person would defend its choices.
It seems that the political system is reaching a critical point. From here on, everything can happen.
There are moments in history where small events trigger and cause great changes.
After all, at some point, Greece will witness a decisive battle between rational modernization and regressive populism. It seems that we are rather close…
Antonis Karakousis
Originally published in the Sunday print edition
