The government reshuffle and the accommodation of Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras

by Vasiliki Siouti

The Finance Ministry will be the epicenter of the forthcoming cabinet reshuffle in which Evangelos Venizelos is demanding a major role. The Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, despite speaking in public as if they had won the European elections, appear to have received the message, and in their private talks not only acknowledge the harsh judgment of the Greek people but are concerned.
 
For this reason the prospect of elections in the autumn grows more distant and they have already begun planning / maneuvering in such a way as to succeed in electing a new President of the Republic in March [which requires a majority of at least 180 in a parliament of 300 – the coalition government currently has a 153 MPs] in order to also avoid general elections in the spring. Until then however they hope to shift the current political climate – not by taking back the harsh policies that turned their voters away, but chiefly through superficial tricks.
 
It is in this light – as an exercise in political spin – that they are approaching the cabinet reshuffle with which they hope to begin to turn the tide of public opinion. That is, they are not planning to change policies but to appear as if they are changing policies. For this reason, particularly for the position of finance minister, they are searching for a figure with a positive public image who will be seen as a socially favourable choice, but will at the same time continue the work of Yannis Stournaras and enjoy – as he did – the confidence of Greece’s lenders. But, as anyone can see, such a person is rather difficult to find.
 
The Prime Minister’s close aide Stavros Papastavrou who was being groomed as Yannis Stournaras’s successor,  cannot, after the government’s electoral rebuke, be considered a viable candidate given that the next finance minister must have a pro-working / middle class or at least pro-welfare image. Mr Papastavrou does not have that – to the contrary his name is associated with the Lagarde List [of individuals suspected of large-scale tax evasion] and with the management of the portfolios of millionaire clients who are being audited for tax-evasion. Such an individual in the position of Finance Minister could prove particularly vulnerable and an easy target for people such as SYRIZA MP, Zoe Konstantopoulou, who has examined his involvement with the Lagarde List.
 
Antonis Samaras and Evangelos Venizelos know full well that the basic reason behind their loss of electoral support is the government’s economic policies. For that reason they are planning to replace the Finance Minister in a climate of ‘understanding’, demonstrating that they have ‘gotten the message’. Of course the truth is that Mr Stournaras’s departure from the finance ministry has been planned for months in order for him to take over from the current Governor of the Bank of Greece whose term is coming to an end.
 
This plan – i.e. that his departure to be portrayed as an expulsion – was behind Mr Stournaras’s recent reaction (that he would not become a ‘punching bag’) when he saw that for political and public relations purposes his agreed upon departure was to be portrayed as his expulsion. He had simple done what was agreed – to do the job in complete cooperation with the lenders and then be protected / rewarded with a six year term (well remunerated) as Governor of the Bank of Greece.
 
His reaction however irritated the Prime Minister somewhat, who reminded him that he doesn’t know how the political game is played and that, in any case, he cannot expect to have it all – indeed he was fortunate that people were striving to see him taken care of. In this fashion Mr Stournaras got the message and backed down.
 
It is true however that internal opposition to the plan to ‘take care’ Yannis Stournaras’s is significant. Some within New Democracy are opposed to the move while Evangelos Venizelos, who has personally butted heads with Mr Stournaras, also has objections. And SYRIZA for its part is totally opposed to the plan. Indeed Alexis Tsipras warned the government against appointing Mr Stournaras as Governor of the Bank of Greece several months ago when the plan to do so was first leaked, to which the Finance Minister responded that he didn’t focus on his personal career and that neither should SYRIZA. The opposition party of course would not be concerned about Mr Stournaras’s personal future if he chose to retire or move to the private sector. The issue here is that the lenders’ collaborators are attempting to grab key positions in order to continue to control the state even in the event that SYRIZA comes to power.
 
The implacable friends of the Finance Minister however maintain that if that came to pass then Yannis Stournaras would have the same fate as Panikos Dimitriadis – the former Governor of the Central Bank of Cyprus – who after intense quarrels and criticism from the Cypriot government, was forced to resign.