New Cabinet sworn in

The new Cabinet arising from a reshuffle by prime minister George Papandreou announced earlier in the day was sworn in at noon on Friday.
After the swearing-in ceremony, which was held at the Presidential Mansion in the presence of President of the Republic Karolos Papoulias and the premier, the new government proceeded to its first Cabinet meeting, chaired by Papandreou.
The new ministers and deputy ministers will afterwards go to their respective ministries to take over their new portfolios from their predecessors.
Four members of the new government – Dimitris Reppas, Haris Kastanidis, Mihalis Chrysohoidis and Haris Pamboukis – were not sworn in on Friday because they will head up newly created ministries, which will be officially founded by presidential decree. The four will most likely be sworn in next week, once the presidential decrees now being prepared by the Council of State have been signed.
The new ministries being formed are an interior ministry and an ‘administrative Reform and e-government’ ministry created by splitting the former Interior, Decentralisation and e-Government ministry, as well as a Development, Compe-titiveness and Shipping ministry created by the merger of the former Regional Development and Competitiveness ministry with the former Maritime Affairs, Shipping and Fisheries ministry.
The swearing-in ceremony was only for the new members of the government or those receiving a different portfolio, not those ministers that remained in the same positions as before.