Greece: New government sworn in but it’s business as usual

11. 06. 2014

Greece: New government sworn in but it’s business as usual


The new Greek coalition government was sworn in on Tuesday.


It comes after a major cabinet reshuffle as the government tries to show Greeks it is listening to their call for change after losing ground in last month's European elections.

 

Radical leftist party Syriza won its first electoral victory with just under 27 percent of the vote.

 

Among the changes, economist Gikas Hardouvelis is the new finance minister. He is a non-partisan technocrat and seen as signalling a continuation in Greece's reform efforts.

 

After a six-year slump, Greece is expected to return to marginal growth this year.

 

 

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said: "The goal remains the same; to keep trying, to end the crisis, to end the bailouts, to maintain structural reforms, and, above all, to speed up growth."

 

In Athens, not everyone was impressed with the new-look cabinet.

 

One woman told euronews: "I didn't like the reshuffle at all. The new cabinet is as bad as the old one. I was hoping for something better."

 

Euronews correspondent in Athens, Stamatis Giannisis, says the cabinet reshuffle is the immediate aftereffect of the recent European election, where the principal ruling coalition partner, conservative New Democracy, lost significant ground to left-wing opposition Syriza and the ultra-right Golden Dawn.

 

But he adds that the challenges the country faces are still the same. The coalition government still has to meet targets on reforms agreed with the country's creditors.

 

Source: Euronews

 

Greece: New government sworn in but it’s business as usual