Cabinet of George Papandreou


Following the 4 October 2009 general elections in Greece, George Papandreou, the leader of the PA.SO.K., formed a government, which was sworn in on 7 October. A major cabinet reshuffle was made in September 2010. The cabinet was succeeded by the Lucas Papademos's Coalition Cabinet.

The 2009 cabinet

The cabinet has 36 members, 14 ministers and 22 deputy ministers, a reduction in the size of government as promised by the PA.SO.K. leader during his campaign for the country’s parliamentary elections. Twenty-four of the new members of the government had no previous ministerial experience. Nine of the members were women, a very large proportion by Greek standards, while five of them were named to head ministries among the 14 portfolios. Papandreou appointed himself foreign minister, a portfolio he held in a previous Pasok government.

Changes in government structure

The new cabinet features less ministries than usual in the past, and significant changes in several of them:

The 2010 cabinet

Prime Minister Papandreou's second cabinet was sworn in on 7 September 2010, after a major cabinet reshuffle with 48 cabinet members comprising the new government, of which seven members were alternate ministers – up from two in the previous Cabinet – and 24 deputy ministers. The majority of Cabinet members are M.P.s from the ruling PA.SO.K. party.The Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Islands and Fisheries - essentially the re-established Merchant Marine ministry - was established.

Ministers

The 2011 cabinet

Prime Minister George A. Papandreou announced a Cabinet reshuffle on 15 June 2011 amidst the worsening Greek debt crisis and mounting protests. The new cabinet was announced and sworn in on 17 June. It features 41 members, seven down from the 2010 cabinet, and a new ministry, that of Administrative Reform, split off from the Interior Ministry. The Ministry for Maritime Affairs, Islands and Fisheries, established in 2010, was dissolved and merged with the Ministry for Regional Development and Competitiveness.
The new cabinet received a vote of confidence on 21 June 2011, with 155 votes in favour, 143 against, and two abstentions.

Ministers

Prime Minister George A. Papandreou also announced the formation of a Government Committee composed of leading ministers: