The PM, the Admiral, and the cabinet reshuffle fiasco

The government reshuffle that was announced yesterday was designed to give the government a fresh start after the disastrous August wildfires, yet it was overshadowed by former admiral and former defence minister Evangelos Apostolakis' last-minute decision to reject his appointment as minister in the newly-created Civil Protection Ministry.

The former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who had served as defence minister under the previous SYRIZA government, following an intense skirmish between the government and main opposition SYRIZA, changed his mind shortly before his planned swearing in yesterday.

The unexpected upset spurred a war between the government and the main opposition and led the PM's office to fiercely attack Apostolakis.

Neither party nor Apostolakis denied that the Admiral had initially accepted his appointment by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

The new post-reshuffle government was announced yesterday by government spokesman Yannis Economou. He announced that the former SYRIZA defence minister would serve as the first minister of the newly created civil protection ministry.

The cabinet reshuffle was decided and announced after the disastrous August wildfires that destroyed over 100,000 hectares of forest land.

The announcement of Apostolakis' participation in the new ND cabinet spurred a backlash from the main opposition party as sources say that Apostolakis had discussed his appointment by the PM with SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras.

"Mr Tsipras made it clear that such an appointment, as Mr. Mitsotakis decided it - on the level of impressions and individuals and not of substance as regards the management of the climate crisis - does not constitute an invitation for inter-party consensus but rather...