Ioannis Sarmas, the new caretaker Prime Minister went to Maximos Hall where he was received by Kyriakos Mitsotakis, immediately after his swearing-in as interim prime minister.
Earlier, Mr. Sarmas swore a religious oath before the President of the Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou to lead the caretaker government that will lead Greece to the June 25 elections.
After the composition of the new caretaker government is completed, the ministers are expected to be sworn in on Friday morning. According to reports, the persons who will make up the cabinet are from academia, with long experience and tenure in the subject they are expected to undertake.
The Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defence are considered more critical due to the Turkish elections that will be held on Sunday, May 28. Sources say that honourary Ambassador of Washington – Ankara – Nicosia, Vassilis Kaskarelis is intended take the office of the foreign ministry, while the defence ministry will be taken over by the undersecretary of defence and honourary head of the Chief of the Hellenic Army General Staff, Alcibiades Stefanis. The position of government representative will be taken by ERT journalist Ilias Siakandaris.
The position of Takis Theodorikakos in the Ministry of Citizen Protection will be taken by the retired general and the honorary head of the Hellenic Army General Staff, Charalambos Lalousis, while the current Deputy Minister Evangelos Tournas seems to be “locked” in the critical period due to the fire protection period of Civil Protection.
In addition, it is considered certain that the professor of Pulmonology, Anastasia Kotanidou, will be sworn in as Minister of Health. The acting Minister of the Interior, Kalliopi Spanou, will remain in her position to “run” the elections. It is rumoured that the current deputy governor of the Bank of Greece, Theodoros Pelagidis, will take over the leadership of the Finance Ministry.
At the same time, with an eye on the national high school exams that start next week, it is possible that the former chancellor of the University of Athens, who was acting minister of health in ’12, Christos Kittas, will take over the Ministry of Education. The law professor, Filippos Spyropoulos may take over the Ministry of Justice, the Deputy Governor of the Bank of Greece (’08-’14), Eleni Louri, is being eyed for the Ministry of Development.
