Greek PM replaces finance minister in reshuffle
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Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou replaced his finance minister on Friday in a broad Cabinet reshuffle to counter widespread anger over tough new austerity measures essential to prevent Greece from a disastrous default.
The critical position which has been held by George Papaconstantinou since the debt crisis began in late 2009, will now be taken over by Evangelos Venizelos, a socialist heavyweight who challenged Papandreou for the party leadership four years ago.
Venizelos, a 57-year-old constitutional law professor and party stalwart, is considered Papandreou’s main internal socialist rival. A veteran of several ministries, he handled the run-up to Greece’s hosting of the Olympic Games in 2004 as culture minister, and has also held the justice, development and transport portfolios in the past.
Papaconstantinou will move to the environment and energy ministry, government spokesman Giorgos Petalotis added. Government portfolios were also redistributed to address demands for faster reform from Greece’s debt monitors at the European Union and International Monetary Fund. A new ministry for administrative reform was created to help scale back the country’s bloated public sector.
Other party heavyweights were also promoted at the expense of Papandreou loyalists.
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