Tsipras adds more ministers to 'finish the difficult marathon'

If there is one electoral promise that most political leaders in Greece failed to honor once elected to power, it is the size of their cabinet. As far as I remember, the commitment for a smaller, more efficient and less costly cabinet was the common denominator of all Greek parties' programs. But it was a promise to be quietly forgotten once an electoral victory brought second thoughts on the structure of the government, or rather on how to balance the running of the government without leaving out close party associates. 

The Leftist Syriza-led government was no exception. Syriza's meteoric rise to power in two general elections last year in January and September was seen as a sign that the Greeks wanted to have a permanent break with the past and were counting on this new, leftist party to manage the country. A small, efficient and agile leftist-led cabinet was to work hard to carry out the tough task of getting the economy going within the straight jacket of the bailout program agreed with Greece's creditors (EU, ECB and IMF). The number of ministers in the first cabinet of the coalition of Syriza and their minor conservative partners, the Independent Greeks, was just 18, among whom the famous or infamous by now, the former Economy Minister, Yanis Varoufakis. That was a big break compared to the crowded cabinet of the previous Samaras government of 46 members!

Albeit small in number that the government did not prove effective and could not manage to live up to its overambitious electoral promises under the extreme pressure and mistrust of its EU partners.  So, when a controversial referendum led to a second ballot in September that brought back Alexis Tsipras' party in to power, the President of the European Parliament with some exasperation...