The staff reviews of public sector employees appear to be the biggest problem within the coalition government, with senior government officers from New Democracy and PASOK clashing on the subject. The critical issues will undoubtedly be at the of of the agenda in today’s meeting between PM Samaras and VP Venizelos.
At the center of the crisis is the Minister of Administrative Reform Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who has argued that the troika-mandated reviews must take place and recently admitted that there were problems in coordinating on the critical issue.
The Minister of Interior Argyris Dinopoulos, who had previously stressed that there would not be any dismissals in the public sector, gave a press conference and adopted a similar line to Mr. Mitsotakis, adding that “there are no good and bad ministers” and that “the government is united”. He did, however, comment that the “law is not perfect” and that there has been significant resistance to carrying out the reviews in local government.
Indicating of the situation within the coalition is the stance of Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Michalis Chrysochoidis, who has avoided escalating the tension between the two partners. Mr. Chrysochoidis stressed that “we will not become butchers or populists” and that he is the only minister to shut down an unnecessary government body. The Minister emphatically stated that he would not carry out any further dismissals.
