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Greece's new government sworn in, confident of beating debt crisis

Xinhua, September 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

Greece's new government that emerged from Sunday's snap general elections was sworn in on Wednesday in Athens at a ceremony held at the presidential mansion.

Cabinet ministers expressed confidence that the new government led by SYRIZA, coalition of the Radical Left, will lead the country out of the five-year debt crisis in the next four years.

"The condition is there this time to overcome difficulties," said Deputy Prime Minister Yannis Dragassakis.

"The new government ... will implement its program and we will exit the crisis," said Defense Minister Panos Kammenos, the leader of the right-wing Independent Greeks (ANEL) party.

Alternate Finance Minister Tryfon Alexiades stressed that all timetables and goals agreed with Greece's international lenders under the third bailout program sealed this summer will be met.

The agreement on the third bailout program since 2010 led to a party split for SYRIZA and its leader and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras quit in late August and called the early elections.

Tsipras was sworn in as prime minister for a second time in eight months on Monday.

He will chair the first meeting of the new cabinet after returning to Athens from the emergency EU summit on the refugee and migrant crisis that was scheduled for Wednesday evening in Brussels.

Political analysts and media commentators in Athens noted that the new cabinet includes most of the ministers of the first SYRIZA-ANEL administration formed in January.

The focus was on Euclid Tsakalotos who has returned to the helm of the Finance Ministry. Tsakalotos, who assumed the post in a cabinet reshuffle in July, was a key figure in the negotiations for the third bailout.

He is to formally take over later on Wednesday from Yorgos Chouliarakis, who served as finance minister in the three-week interim government that led the country to the snap elections.

Chouliarakis was also a leading member of the Greek team in bailout negotiations in recent years, and stayed by Tsakalotos' side as alternate finance minister amid Greece's efforts to implement the painful austerity and reform commitments under the new bailout and seek debt relief. Endi