The glory days of the administrative state continue. With this amendment, the government has dealt another blow to the credibility of its institutional creation. According to the reshuffle that was announced, tomorrow, Friday, June 12, Mr. Hatzivassiliou will be sworn in to take over the European Affairs portfolio at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, notes the PASOK Public Administration Sector in a statement.
However, there is an obstacle. According to the law on the executive branch, “No Ministry may have more than three (3) Deputy Minister and Undersecretary positions in total. There may be no more than one Deputy Minister position in each Ministry” (Article 13, Paragraph 5, Law 4622/2019). These three positions are currently held by Yannis Loverdos, Alexandra Papadopoulou, and Haris Theocharis. So either one of the three current Deputy Ministers would have to resign, or another scenario would have to be devised to nullify the executive governance structure.
And that is exactly what they are doing. The largest government since the restoration of democracy, with 57 ministers, deputy ministers, and undersecretaries, is consistently applying the formula “I’ll change the law to accommodate my own people.” We recall that they did the same at the EYP to accommodate Mr. Kontoleon, despite his lack of formal qualifications.
By the same logic, this amendment specifically benefits Ms. Papadopoulou, who, instead of resigning, is being promoted to a permanent acting Deputy Minister, since “this position is filled by a serving Ambassador or a distinguished Ambassador who has served as a permanent diplomatic official with the rank of Ambassador and aims to strengthen the continuity of administrative operations in the field of foreign policy.”
The additional position of deputy minister they are establishing will cost 85,000 euros per year, while also securing its place in the caretaker government ahead of the upcoming national elections. Mr. Mitsotakis’s administrative apparatus is being dismantled by its own creators, undermining the mission of public administration and passing the bill on to the citizens, the statement concludes.