Second Cabinet of Alexis Tsipras

Second Cabinet of Alexis Tsipras
cabinet of Greece
Alexis Tsipras in 2015
Date formed	23 September 2015
People and organisations
Head of government	Alexis Tsipras
Deputy head of government	Yannis Dragasakis
Head of state	Prokopis Pavlopoulos
Member parties	Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA), Independent Greeks (ANEL) (with participation from Ecologist Greens and independents)
Status in legislature	SYRIZA-led coalition government
Opposition parties	New Democracy Golden Dawn To Potami Communist Party of Greece (KKE) Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) Union of Centrists
Opposition leader	Vangelis Meimarakis
History
Election(s)	Greek legislative election, September 2015
Predecessor	Thanou-Christophilou Caretaker Cabinet

The Second Cabinet of Alexis Tsipras was sworn in on 23 September 2015, following the Greek legislative election in September 2015. Alexis Tsipras, leader of Syriza, was sworn in as Prime Minister of Greece on 21 September, having agreed to re-form the coalition with Panos Kammenos and the Independent Greeks.

Background

The First Cabinet of Alexis Tsipras was formed following the legislative election in January 2015, and was a coalition of Syriza and the Independent Greeks. Most notably, the government had to deal with the Greek government-debt crisis, but was also responsible for the early July bailout referendum. Throughout the duration of their term, their main responsibility was re-negotiating the terms of the third bailout package.

During the vote on the third bailout package in the Hellenic Parliament, a number of Syriza MPs voted against the package resulting in the government officially losing its majority. For this reason, Tsipras and the government resigned on 20 August and called for a snap election to take place on 20 September. Prokopis Pavlopoulos, the President of Greece had to allow for all the opposition parties to attempt to form a government of their own, but none of them had sufficient numbers of MPs. Subsequently, a caretaker cabinet led by Vassiliki Thanou-Christophilou was formed on 27 August to lead the country into the election.

During the election campaign period, opinion polls had suggested that Syriza and New Democracy, led by Vangelis Meimarakis, were neck and neck, with some polls showing New Democracy ahead and others showing Syriza ahead. The exit polls generally showed that Syriza was on 30-34%, and New Democracy was on 28.5-32.5%.

Formation

At approximately 12:00 GMT on 21 September, Tsipras met with Panos Kammenos, his former coalition partner, at the Syriza party HQ in Athens. At the meeting, they discussed the make-up of the new cabinet.^[1]

Composition

Prime Minister

	Office[2]	Incumbent	Party		In office since
	Prime Minister	Alexis Tsipras		SYRIZA	21 September 2015
	Deputy Prime Minister	Yannis Dragasakis		SYRIZA	23 September 2015

Ministerial responsibilities

Alternate Ministers are directly assigned special responsibilities and powers by the prime minister, including:^[3]

• full parliamentary powers and, in conjunction with the minister, the legislative initiative
• the right to issue individual and normative acts, and to propose individual and normative decrees

Full ministers however retain:

• the identification of ministerial policy in the cabinet
• the representation in bodies of the European Union
• the appointment of administrative agencies, public services and personnel

Deputy ministers are assigned with responsibilities and powers by the prime minister and the full minister they report to.

Ministry[4]	Office[2]	Incumbent	Party		In office since
1. Ministry of the Interior and Administrative Reconstruction	Minister of the Interior and Administrative Reconstruction	Panagiotis Kouroumblis		SYRIZA	23 September 2015
	Deputy Minister of the Interior and Administrative Reconstruction	Yannis Balafas^a		SYRIZA	23 September 2015
	Alternate Minister of Administrative Reform	Assistant Professor Christoforos Vernardakis		SYRIZA	23 September 2015
	Alternate Minister of Citizen Protection	Major General Nikos Toskas		SYRIZA	23 September 2015
	Alternate Minister of Immigration Policy	Dr Ioannis Mouzalas		Independent	28 August 2015
	Deputy Minister for Macedonia and Thrace	Maria Kollia-Tsaroucha^a		ANEL	23 September 2015
2. Ministry of Economy, Development and Tourism	Minister of Economy, Development and Tourism	Professor Giorgos Stathakis		SYRIZA	23 September 2015
	Alternate Minister of Tourism	Elena Kountoura		ANEL	23 September 2015
	Deputy Minister of National Strategic Reference Framework Issues	Alexis Charitsis^a		SYRIZA	23 September 2015
	Deputy Minister of Industry	Theodora Tzagri^a		SYRIZA	23 September 2015
3. Ministry of National Defence	Minister of National Defence	Panos Kammenos		ANEL	23 September 2015
	Alternate Minister of National Defence	Dimitris Vitsas		SYRIZA	23 September 2015
4. Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs	Minister of Education, Research and Religious Affairs	Nikos Filis		SYRIZA	23 September 2015
	Alternate Minister of Education, Research and Religious Affairs	Associate Professor Sia Anagnostopoulou		SYRIZA	23 September 2015
	Alternate Minister of Research and Innovation	Professor Kostas Fotakis		Independent	23 September 2015
	Deputy Minister of Education, Research and Religious Affairs	Professor Theodosis Pelegrinis		SYRIZA	23 September 2015
5. Ministry of Environment and Energy	Minister of Environment and Energy	Panos Skourletis		SYRIZA	23 September 2015
	Alternate Minister of Environment and Energy	Giannis Tsironis		OP	23 September 2015
6. Ministry of Justice, Transparency and Human Rights	Minister of Justice, Transparency and Human Rights	Professor Nikos Paraskevopoulos		SYRIZA	23 September 2015
	Alternate Minister of Corruption Issues	Dimitris Papangelopoulos		Independent	23 September 2015
7. Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Minister of Foreign Affairs	Professor Nikos Kotzias		SYRIZA	23 September 2015
	Alternate Minister of European Affairs	Nikos Xydakis		SYRIZA	23 September 2015
	Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs	Ioannis Amanatidis^a		SYRIZA	23 September 2015
	Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs	Professor Dimitris Mardas^a		SYRIZA	23 September 2015
8. Ministry of Finance	Minister of Finance	Professor Euclid Tsakalotos		SYRIZA	23 September 2015
	Alternate Minister of Finance	Tryfon Alexiadis		SYRIZA	18 July 2015
	Alternate Minister of Finance	Dr Giorgos Houliarakis		Independent	23 September 2015
9. Ministry of Labour, Social Insurance and Social Solidarity	Minister of Labour, Social Insurance and Social Solidarity	Professor Georgios Katrougalos		SYRIZA	23 September 2015
	Alternate Minister of Social Solidarity	Professor Theano Fotiou		SYRIZA	23 September 2015
	Alternate Minister for Combatting Unemployment	Associate Professor Rania Antonopoulou		SYRIZA	23 September 2015
	Deputy Minister of Social Insurance Issues	Anastasios Petropoulos^a		SYRIZA	23 September 2015
10. Ministry of Health	Minister of Health	Dr Andreas Xanthos		SYRIZA	23 September 2015
	Alternate Minister of Health	Dr Pavlos Polakis		SYRIZA	23 September 2015
11. Ministry of Infrastructure, Transport and Networks	Minister of Infrastructure, Transport and Networks	Christos Spirtzis		Independent	23 September 2015
	Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, Transport and Networks	Dimitris Kammenos^a		ANEL	23 September 2015 – 23 September 2015
		Panagiotis Sgouridis^a		ANEL	24 September 2015 – 23 February 2016
		Marina Chrissoveloni^a		ANEL	24 February 2016
12. Ministry of Shipping and Island Policy	Minister of Shipping and Island Policy	Thodoris Dritsas		SYRIZA	23 September 2015
13. Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food	Minister of Agricultural Development and Food	Evangelos Apostolou		SYRIZA	23 September 2015
	Alternate Minister of Agricultural Development and Food	Markos Bolaris		SYRIZA	23 September 2015
14. Ministry of Culture and Sports	Minister of Culture and Sports	Professor Aristides Baltas		SYRIZA	23 September 2015
	Deputy Minister of Sports	Stavros Kontonis		SYRIZA	23 September 2015

Ministers of State

Rank[5]	Office[2]	Incumbent	Party		In office since
1.	Minister of State	Nikos Pappas		SYRIZA	23 September 2015
2.	Minister of State for Coordinating Government Operations	Alekos Flambouraris		SYRIZA	23 September 2015
	Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister	Terence Quick^a		ANEL	23 September 2015
	Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister and Government Spokesperson	Dr Olga Gerovassili		SYRIZA	23 September 2015

Bold denotes full ministers attending the weekly cabinet council.
^a Deputy ministers are not members of the cabinet but may attend cabinet meetings.
References:^[6]

References

1. Smith, Helena (21 September 2015). "Tsipras meeting with Independent Greeks leader now". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
2. Η σύνθεση της Κυβέρνησης [Composition of the Government] (in Greek). Retrieved 22 March 2015.
3. Ανάθεση αρμοδιοτήτων στην Αναπληρώτρια Υπουργό Εργασίας και Κοινωνικής Αλληλεγγύης Ουρανίας Αντωνοπούλου [Delegation of authority to the Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Solidarity Ourania Antonopoulou] (PDF) (in Greek). Prime Minister of Greece. 16 February 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
4. Καθορισμός σειράς τάξης των Υπουργείων [Sequencing order of Ministries] (PDF) (in Greek). Prime Minister of Greece. 17 February 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
5. Καθορισμός σειράς προβαδίσματος των Υπουργών Επικρατείας [Precedence order of State Ministers] (PDF) (in Greek). Prime Minister of Greece. 2 February 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
6. "New SYRIZA/Independent Greeks coalition government inaugurated". To Vima. 23 September 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2015.