Yiannis Michelakis

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is on Saturday to unveil a ?national plan for growth and reforms? in a bid to indicate that his administration is the best bet for security and improved prospects and attract more undecided voters ahead of critical snap polls on January 25.

SYRIZA MEP Dimitris Papadimoulis added his voice on Monday to those calling for a meeting between his party leader and Prime Minister Antonis Samaras.

A new legislative framework being finalized by the Interior Ministry aims to allow political parties to receive funding directly from enterprises but also obliges the parties to boost transparency and accountability.

Greek President Karolos Papoulias presided over the swearing-in ceremony of the cabinet at the Presidential Palace in central Athens shortly after 3.30 p.m. on Tuesday, following a reshuffle announced by the coalition government on Monday which saw several key ministers, including for Finance, being replaced.

The ceremony was conducted by Archbishop Ieronymos.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras on Monday carried out a radical overhaul of his cabinet, replacing Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras with economist and former prime-ministerial adviser Gikas Hardouvelis (photo) and introducing different faces from both coalition parties.

A prosecutor has sent a case file to Parliament regarding corruption accusations against Interior Minister Yiannis Michelakis and MPs will decide whether to lift the New Democracy official’s immunity in the next three months, Justice Minister Haralambos Athanasiou told the House yesterday.

Dozens of aftershocks rattled the northern Aegean islands of Lemnos and Samothraki yesterday following Saturday’s strong undersea quake, measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale, which led to a British tourist being injured on Lemnos and dozens of injuries in western Turkey.

By Paschos Mandravelis

In many other parts of the world, when there is a problem people will seek a decent solution. But not here. Faced with a problem, Greeks are more likely to propose a ban.

The 54-year-old owner of a fairground in Halkida on Evia faced a prosecutor on Wednesday after state inspectors determined that he had no license for operating the site.