The removal of General Secretary of Public Revenue Haris Theoharis has caused great concerns internationally. The next day of his resignation finds the government measuring gains and losses, while the Finance Ministry expects today the applications of candidates for the position of the General Secretary.

The government believes that it will be benefited from the removal of Mr. Theoharis, who was often seen as an obstacle to their plans because he could not be controlled by the political parties.

They think that, because of his position as the head of the tax collection mechanism, he was not very popular among the society, which might accept with relief the news for his resignation.

On the other hand, the European Commission expresses openly its “deep concern” and “strong discomfort” because it considered Mr Theoharis a person that can be trusted as for the implementation of the agreements made with the government. They are waiting to see which person will replace him, but one thing is sure, it will take time to convince European Commission about his reliability. They noted, however, that the experiment of a “permanent” and ‘independent’ general secretary was undermined by partisan factors and that is why lenders had required to have 5-year term so that his work will not depend on the electoral cycle.

As a result of all this, many members of the government foresee that now Troika might put more pressure on the government to ensure that it will implement everything agreed.

Troika might insist on “a new memorandum”, especially in case of Mr. Stournaras’s removal, because within the next 3-4 months Troika should sign:

– disbursement of the sub-instalments of June and July

– tax relief required by the government

– third loan considered to be given to our country

– scenarios of Greek debt relief

Since the first announcement of the resignation of Mr Theoharis was made by the media, with selective leaks from the government, Toika and European Comission are not convinced that the General Secretary was resigned for personal reasons.

However, changing the person does not mean a policy change, since the General Secretary does not take measures, but implement those that have been agreed.