Michalis Psalidopoulos was given the unenviable position of negotiating for Greece with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The Finance Ministry announced the appointment of Psalidopoulos on Wednesday. He is the president of the Center of Planning and Economic Research (KEPE) and Professor of Economics at the Athens University. He will take the post on June 20.

Economist Elena Panaritis had been appointed for the post at the start of the month, however 44 SYRIZA deputies called for this decision to be revoked 24 hours after the announcement was made. The MPs said that they were opposed to “the values, viewpoints and politics she reppresents,” adding that “a prominent representative of memorandum policies cannot possibly express the government.”