The Greek government is facing another difficult week as Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras prepares to face a second critical vote to secure a bailout agreement.
Greece on Thursday won vital pledges of support from creditors needed to keep its economy from collapsing, but the painful austerity measures demanded in return were likely to force an election within months.
While Tsipras’s main concern is finalizing the bailout deal with Greece’s eurozone creditors, it is also important for the prime minister to have a supportive administration committed to his path of adopting economic reforms demanded by Greece’s eurozone creditors in return for a new rescue deal worth up to €86bn.
Tsipras refuses to rely on the votes of opposition parties such as New Democracy, PASOK and Potami to pass future legislation in the parliament.
The Greek prime appears to be preparing for snap elections in September or October after carrying out a government reshuffle that removed dissident members of his radical leftist Syriza party following a revolt over the tough bailout terms.
The reshuffle allowed Tsipras to replace cabinet rebels with allies of his own or from his junior coalition partners, the right-wing Independent Greeks (Anel) party.
The highlight of the changes, announced late on Friday, was the departure of Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis who is the leader of the party’s hardline Left Platform faction and advocates Greece’s exit from the eurozone.
Lafazanis was replaced as energy minister by Panos Skourletis, a Tsipras ally who was formerly labour minister. In turn, Skourletis was replaced as labour minister by George Katrougalos, formerly minister for administrative reforms.
Tsipras’s most important economic policymakers — Euclid Tsakalotos as finance minister and George Stathakis as economy minister — remain in place.
Even thought the reshuffle means that Tsipras now controls a cabinet more loyal to him rifts within government remain. Hardliners from the Left Platform said they want to remove the party's leadership from Tsipras.
Government sources that spoke to iefimerida.gr on condition of anonymity said that the prime minister's aides consult him to proceed with the formation of another party scheme to untie to “Gordian knot”.
Meanwhile a member of the Left Platform told to iefimerida.gr that “the party can only be reunified if we proceed we re-plan of our policies. If we implement our program and we stop implementing memorandums”