The

Caretaker Cabinet A caretaker government is a temporary ''ad hoc'' government that performs some governmental duties and functions in a country until a regular government is elected or formed. Depending on specific practice, it usually consists of either randomly se ...

Vassiliki Thanou-Christophilou Vasiliki Thanou-Christophilou ( el, Βασιλική Θάνου-Χριστοφίλου, ; born 3 November 1950), also known as just Vasiliki Thanou, is a Greek judge who served as caretaker Prime Minister of Greece from 27 August to 21 September ...

was formed following the resignation of the Syriza-ANEL coalition government on 20 August 2015, and the failure of opposition parties to form their own government. The cabinet was headed by Thanou-Christophilou, the President of the

Court of Cassation A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case, they only interpret the relevant law. In this they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In th ...

, who was sworn in as

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

on 27 August 2015, and the rest of the cabinet were sworn in the next day on 28 August. The cabinet remained in office until the completion of the legislative election on 20 September 2015.

Background

On 20 August 2015, Prime Minister

Alexis Tsipras Alexis Tsipras ( el, Αλέξης Τσίπρας, ; born 28 July 1974) is a Greek politician serving as Leader of the Official Opposition since 2019. He served as Prime Minister of Greece from 2015 to 2019. Tsipras has led the Coalition of th ...

, who was leading a

Syriza The Coalition of the Radical Left – Progressive Alliance ( el, Συνασπισμός Ριζοσπαστικής Αριστεράς – Προοδευτική Συμμαχία, Synaspismós Rizospastikís Aristerás – Proodeftikí Simachía), ...

ANEL The Independent Greeks - National Patriotic Alliance ( el, Ανεξάρτητοι Έλληνες (ΑΝΕΛ), ''Anexartitoi Ellines'', ANEL) is a national-conservative political party in Greece. The party was the junior coalition partner to the ...

coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

, resigned following a rebellion by party members on a key vote related to the third bailout package. Tsipras said that he needed a stronger mandate in order to implement the bailout package, and so called for a snap legislative election to take place in September. According to the

Greek constitution The Constitution of Greece ( el, Σύνταγμα της Ελλάδας, Syntagma tis Elladas) was created by the Fifth Revisionary Parliament of the Hellenes in 1974, after the fall of the Greek military junta and the start of the Third Hellen ...

, the

President of Greece The president of Greece, officially the President of the Hellenic Republic ( el, Πρόεδρος της Ελληνικής Δημοκρατίας, Próedros tis Ellinikís Dimokratías), commonly referred to in Greek as the President of the Rep ...

could not just call an election, but had to consult all the major parties in turn to see if they could form their own government, described by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' at the time as "a near impossibility given the current makeup of the parliament." On 27 August, the President,

Prokopis Pavlopoulos Prokopios Pavlopoulos ( el, Προκόπιος Παυλόπουλος, ; born 10 July 1950), commonly shortened to Prokopis (Προκόπης), is a Greek lawyer, university professor and politician who served as the president of Greece from 2015 ...

, informed the party leaders that there was no chance of a coalition government being formed by the existing parliament. That evening,

was sworn in as the caretaker

Prime Minister of Greece The prime minister of the Hellenic Republic ( el, Πρωθυπουργός της Ελληνικής Δημοκρατίας, Prothypourgós tis Ellinikís Dimokratías), colloquially referred to as the prime minister of Greece ( el, Πρωθυ� ...

. On 28 August, the rest of the caretaker cabinet were sworn in at the Presidential Mansion. Later that day, Pavlopoulos signed a degree for the snap election, setting the date at 20 September. Also, the caretaker cabinet had their first meeting where they agreed to work towards an "impeccable" election.

Appointments

George Chouliarakis George Chouliarakis ( el, Γιώργος Χουλιαράκης), also transliterated as Giorgos Houliarakis, is a Greek academic and politician who served as an Alternate Minister of Finance in the Second Cabinet of Alexis Tsipras, serving unde ...

, an academic economist who had been part of the Greek negotiating team during the talks surrounding the third bailout package, was appointed as

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

Petros Molyviatis Petros G. Molyviatis ( el, Πέτρος Γ. Μολυβιάτης; born 12 June 1928) is a Greek politician and diplomat who served three times as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2004 to 2006, May to June 2012, and August to September 2015. Fro ...

, a "veteran diplomat", was appointed as

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

, a role he had held in 2012 and from 2004 to 2006.

Alkistis Protopsalti Alkistis Protopsalti ( el, Άλκηστις Πρωτοψάλτη), born as Alkistis Sevasti Attikuzel ( el, Άλκηστις Σεβαστή Αττικιουζέλ), is a Greek singer and songwriter. Life Alkistis Protopsalti was born in Alex ...

, a singer, was appointed as the Alternate Minister of Tourism.

Composition

The cabinet was composed of ten full ministers, nine alternate ministers, one deputy minister and two

Ministers of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In ot ...

, for a total of 22 members. This would become 23 members if the Government

Spokesman A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman, is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...

, Rodolfos Moronis, was included. 20 members of the cabinet (including Moronis) were male; 3 were female. Only two members of the

First Cabinet of Alexis Tsipras Following his victory in legislative elections held on 25 January 2015, the newly elected Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras appointed a new cabinet to succeed the cabinet of Antonis Samaras, his predecessor. A significant reshuffle took place on 1 ...

remained in the same roles, Panagiotis Nikoloudis as Minister of State for Combatting Corruption and Tryfon Alexiadis as Alternate Minister of Finance.

Dimitris Papangelopoulos Dimitris Papangelopoulos ( el, Δημήτρης Παπαγγελόπουλος; born 1954) is a Greek lawyer and politician who served as Alternate Minister of Corruption Issues in the Second Cabinet of Alexis Tsipras. He has previously served ...

had formerly served in Tsipras's cabinet as a Deputy Minister for Justice, but served as the Minister of Justice, Transparency and Human Rights in the Caretaker Cabinet.

Cabinet list

Prime Minister

Cabinet

Ministers of State

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

References

{{Cabinets of Greece Cabinets of Greece Cabinets established in 2015 Cabinets disestablished in 2015 2015 in Greek politics 2015 establishments in Greece 2015 disestablishments in Greece Greek government-debt crisis Caretaker governments