The Cabinet of

Lucas Papademos Lucas Demetrios Papademos ( el, Λουκάς Παπαδήμος; born 11 October 1947) is a Greek economist and academic who served as 12th Prime Minister of Greece from November 2011 to May 2012, leading a national unity government in the wake ...

succeeded the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

of George Papandreou, as an interim three-party coalition cabinet, leading a

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 ...

formed by the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) party, New Democracy party and Popular Orthodox Rally party, after Papandreou's decision to step down, and allow a provisional coalition government to form with the task to take Greece out of a major political crisis caused by the country's debt crisis. It was the first coalition cabinet in Greece since the 1989–1990 Ecumenical Cabinet of Xenophon Zolotas. The

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 ...

Lucas Papademos and the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

were formally sworn in on 11 November 2011.

Government formation process

On November 6, Prime Minister George Papandreou met with opposition leaders to try to reach an agreement on the formation of an

interim government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, or a transitional government, is an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition generally in the cases of a newly formed state or f ...

, after a narrow confidence vote win in parliament. A day earlier, the leader of the opposition New Democracy party Antonis Samaras had rejected the proposal and called for an immediate election. After Papandreou agreed to step aside, however, the two leaders announced their intention to form a national unity government that would allow the EU bailout to proceed and pave the way for

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...

on 19 February 2012. The

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

and the Coalition of the Radical Left Party, refused Papandreou's invitation to join talks on a new unity government. After several days of intense negotiations, the two major parties along with the Popular Orthodox Rally agreed to form a

grand coalition A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political parties of opposing political ideologies unite in a coalition government. The term is most commonly used in countries where there are t ...

headed by former

European Central Bank The European Central Bank (ECB) is the prime component of the monetary Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) as well as one of seven institutions of the European Union. It is one of the world's Big Four (banking)#Intern ...

vice-president

. On November 10, George Papandreou formally resigned as Prime Minister of Greece, and the new coalition cabinet and Prime Minister Lucas Papademos were formally sworn in on 11 November 2011. The national unity government's main task was to allow the EU bailout to proceed and to pave the way for elections on 19 February 2012. Papademos, who was not an elected MP, has said his priority will be to keep Greece in the eurozone.

The Cabinet

In total, 48 people including the prime minister make up the government, seven more than its immediate predecessor. There are 12 new ministers in its ranks, of which nine have been sworn into government office for the first time, including the new premier. Broadly, most Cabinet members served in the previous government of George Papandreou. Nevertheless, the new coalition government also includes six members hailing from the main opposition New Democracy party. On 10 February 2012, the Popular Orthodox Rally withdrew from the coalition government after refusing to support the latest austerity deal. The party's only cabinet minister,

Makis Voridis Mavroudis (Makis) Voridis ( el, Μαυρουδής (Μάκης) Χρήστου Βορίδης) (born 23 August 1964) is a Greek politician and lawyer. His previous and current involvement with far-right rhetoric and past association with dictato ...

, was expelled by

Georgios Karatzaferis Georgios Karatzaferis ( el, Γεώργιος Καρατζαφέρης; born August 11, 1947) is a Greek politician, a former member of the Hellenic Parliament and the president of the Popular Orthodox Rally. Previously, Karatzaferis was a membe ...

for supporting the package but retained his portfolio after consultations with the prime minister. A few days later, he joined New Democracy and surrendered his parliamentary seat to LAOS. A minor cabinet reshuffle was announced in March 2012, after

Christos Papoutsis Christos Papoutsis ( el, Χρήστος Παπουτσής) (born April 11, 1953) is a Greek socialist politician who has served as Minister for Citizen Protection (2010–12), Mercantile Marine Minister (2000–01) Member of the European Parlia ...

resigned as

Minister for Citizen Protection The Ministry of Citizen Protection ( el, Υπουργείο Προστασίας του Πολίτη) is the government department responsible for Greece's public security services, i.e. the Hellenic Police, the Hellenic Fire Service, Hellenic (C ...

in order to pursue the PASOK leadership. He was replaced by

Michalis Chrisochoidis Michalis Chrisochoidis (, born 31 October 1955 in Nisi, Imathia) is a Greek politician and former member of the Hellenic Parliament for the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK). He served as Minister for Citizen Protection (1999–2003, 2009� ...

, who was succeeded as development minister by Anna Diamantopoulou. She was replaced in the education portfolio by Georgios Babiniotis, a professor of

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

and former rector of the University of Athens.

References

;General * ;Specific {{DEFAULTSORT:Papademos Lucas Cabinet Papademos 2011 in Greek politics 2012 in Greek politics Cabinets established in 2011 Cabinets disestablished in 2012 2011 establishments in Greece 2012 disestablishments in Greece Papademos Greek government-debt crisis New Democracy (Greece) PASOK

Government formation process

The Cabinet

See also

References