Greek cabinet reshuffle expected

(Vatican Radio)  The eyes of all the Greeks are on Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras Friday, as he’s expected hourly to reshuffle his cabinet to strengthen his hand against a serious revolt in his Syriza party.

Listen to John Carr's report:

At the same time, a government official said Greece’s banks will reopen on Monday after a three-week closure, though capital controls will remain.  This sign of relief in Greece’s severe liquidity squeeze is apparently the result of this week’s parliamentary vote approving a new bailout.

It leaves Tsipras in a stronger position to deal with a left-wing revolt in Syriza led by the outspoken Speaker of Parliament, Zoe Konstantopoulou, who may well find herself out of a job by day’s end.  So might a handful of other cabinet members among the 39 Syriza rebels who defied Tsipras to vote against the bailout two nights ago.

Wolfgang Schaeuble, the German finance minister who is the Greeks’ greatest bugbear, unexpectedly relaxed his immovable stand yesterday by suggesting that the Greek debt of more than 300 billion euros might be written down after all.  The International Monetary Fund had suggested as much last week.

Yet even after a reshuffle, political instability will be far from over.  At least one government official predicts a general election in the early autumn to clear the confused political air.