The Greek Premier, Mr Costas Simitis, has sacked his outspoken Culture Minister, who was in charge of the government efforts to prepare for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. Mr Theodoros Pangalos (62) was dismissed after publicly criticising contentious government labour reforms and other cabinet members.
"A minister cannot hold a public dispute with the government, and cannot use reprehensible language against his colleagues," Mr Simitis said. Mr Pangalos will be replaced today by Mr Evangelos Venizelos (43), who has held several Cabinet positions including the portfolios of culture, development, justice and transport.
The dismissal of Mr Pangalos comes only days before senior officials from the International Olympic Committee visit Athens on Wednesday to inspect preparations for the 2004 games. The Athens organisers have been criticised for three years of delayed preparations, and the IOC president, Mr Juan Antonio Samaranch, warned in April that the games were in danger.
In September, Mr Pangalos cancelled a trip to Sydney for the Olympics opening ceremony, saying he did not have time. Greek reports suggested he was at loggerheads with Ms Gianna Angelopoulos Daskalaki, who heads the Athens 2004 organising committee. Last week, Mr Simitis acknowledged official concern on the preparations for the Athens games, but said the city "is ready to face new challenges and opportunities of the 21st century, especially the Olympics."
Mr Pangalos, who has been Culture Minister for seven months, was reprimanded in the past for his frequent outbursts. He was dismissed as Foreign Minister last year following Greece's embarrassing failure to protect the Kurdish rebel leader, Abdullah Ocalan, who was captured by Turkey. In 1993, as European affairs minister, he described Germany as a "bestial force with a child's brain". In 1998 he likened top Turkish officials to "the bandit, the murderer and the rapist".
Mr Pangalos yesterday criticised the way in which the Foreign Minister, Mr George Papandreou, was working to ease relations with Turkey. "To conduct foreign policy you have to have an elementary knowledge of history," Mr Pangalos said in a scathing comment on Mr Papandreou during an interview with the Athens newspaper, Ethnos.
Politically, Mr Pangalos is noted for his verbal outbursts against Turkey. In his latest interview, he claimed that confidence-building measures now sought by Greece and Turkey in the Aegean Sea were merely intended by Turkey to force Greece into discussing fundamental issues that it had hitherto resisted discussing.