Evangelos Apostolakis

The resignations on Wednesday of three top executives from SYRIZA's executive bodies are further testing the cohesion of the party that has been riveted by infighting.

We have not witnessed such confusion since 1952, when Georgios Papandreou ran as a candidate MP with the Ellinikos Synagermos (Greek Rally) party of Field Marshal Alexandros Papagos.

SYRIZA has unveiled its state-wide list for the upcoming elections on May 21, the composition of which is equally balanced between male and female candidates.

By Angelos Athanasopoulos

The incoming minister for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Christos Stylianides is a dentist by training, yet he is by all accounts essentially a "political animal".

That is the common conviction of both his friends and opponents, as Cyprus's former European Commissioner has a passion for whatever he takes up.

According to Murphy's Law, "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong."

That adage appears to be haunting Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his government over the past weeks.

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 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.

Just two hours after Prime Ministet Kyriakos' decisions about the cabinet reshuffle were announced, Admiral Evangelos Apostolakis, who had served as defence minister under the previous SYRIZA government, refused to accept his appointment as minister in the newly-created civil protection ministry.

The die is cast. The reshuffle is now a fact and it held surprises.

At first, an autonomous Ministry of Civil Protection was set up, with a surprise minister: Retired Admiral Evangelos Apostolakis.

By George Gilson

Cabinet reshuffles are most often an attempt to transcend the serious errors of ministers in the handling of crucial issues in order to signal a new beginning for the government, free of the albatrosses of the past.