Tsakalotos key in Tsipras' cabinet

Greece's re-elected Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras revealed his largely unchanged cabinet on Tuesday, with leftwing economist Euclid Tsakalotos taking the lead as the country's finance minister.

The Oxford-educated and Dutch-born Marxist economist, who is credited with saving dire negotiations between Greece and its creditors in July, now faces the challenging task of steering largely unpopular economic reforms in the debt-stricken country.

Tsakalotos, age 55, was appointed finance minister in early July after his outspoken predecessor Yanis Varoufakis resigned due to disagreements with Greece's lenders over a cash-for-reform bailout deal.

A stark contrast to Varoufakis' contentious persona, the cool-headed Tsakalotos earned the esteem of his EU colleagues during arduous talks to safeguard an 86-billion-euro ($97 billion) rescue package, Greece's third since 2010.

Tsipras' cabinet includes 16 ministers and 30 deputy ministers, though only four portfolios are held by women.

From crisis to crisis

Five seats shy of gaining a parliamentary majority in Sunday's elections, Tsipras' party Syriza was once again pushed into making a coalition government with the nationalist Independent Greeks, naming the party's leader Panos Kammenos as defense minister.

The young premier offered the foreign minister portfolio to Nicos Kotias, a former member of Greece's Communist youth, and energy minister to Panos Skourtletis, Syriza's former spokesperson.

Ioannis Mouzalas, a former aid group coordinator, was also retained as migration minister after being appointed to handle the refugee crisis in the 4-week caretaker government.

From the mass influx of migrants to its handling of financial obligations, Greece has struggled to cope with several crises.

However, Tsipras vowed to have his new government in office before heading to an EU emergency summit in Brussels aimed at tackling Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II.

ls/rg (AFP, AP, Reuters)