The cabinet has 36 members, 14 ministers and 22 deputy ministers, a reduction in the size of government as promised by the PA.SO.K. leader during his campaign for the country’s parliamentary elections. Twenty-four of the new members of the government had no previous ministerial experience. Nine of the members were women, a very large proportion by Greek standards, while five of them were named to head ministries among the 14 portfolios.[3] Papandreou appointed himself foreign minister, a portfolio he held in a previous Pasok government.[4]
Changes in government structure
The new cabinet features less ministries than usual in the past (four less than the previous cabinet),[3] and significant changes in several of them:
the post of a Vice-President of the Government has been re-introduced and given a coordinating role over the Government Council for Foreign Affairs and Defense (KYSEA) and the committee on Economic and Social Policy.
Prime Minister Papandreou's second cabinet was sworn in on 7 September 2010,[2] after a major cabinet reshuffle with 48 cabinet members comprising the new government, of which seven members were alternate ministers – up from two in the previous Cabinet – and 24 deputy ministers. The majority of Cabinet members are M.P.s from the ruling PA.SO.K. party. The Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Islands and Fisheries - essentially the re-established Merchant Marine ministry - was established.[2]
The new cabinet received a vote of confidence on 21 June 2011, with 155 (51.7%) votes in favour (all from PA.SO.K. members), 143 (47.7%) against, and two (0.7%) abstentions.[7]
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