Papandreou Names New Cabinet in Bid to Get Past Scandal

Greek Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou named a new Cabinet on Friday in an apparent attempt to purge his Socialist government of ministers linked to an embezzlement scandal three months before parliamentary elections.

Under pressure from the conservative opposition within his ruling Panhellenic Socialist Movement, or PASOK, and parties of the far left to resign over the four-month-old scandal involving a fugitive Greek banker, Papandreou asked members of his Cabinet to step down Thursday.

Also Thursday, the government presented to Parliament a bill to change the electoral law outlining how seats in the legislature would be contested in June in a move apparently aimed at appeasing rebels within PASOK.

Since the scandal surfaced in December, Papandreou has survived two votes of confidence in the 300-member Parliament and a wave of resignations.

In announcing his new government, the 16th since Papandreou came to power in 1981, the prime minister said he “decided to form a more flexible Cabinet to enable (ruling party) deputies to campaign more effectively in the run-up to the general elections in June.”