Samaras holds rare talks with Bakoyannis as Finance Ministry spot remains open

The coalition is seeking to put the controversial departure of tax chief Haris Theoharis behind it as it moves into the final straight before a cabinet reshuffle that is expected to take place on Monday.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras met with former Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis on Friday, sparking speculation that the New Democracy MP might succeed Yannis Stournaras as finance minister. It was the first such meeting between Samaras and Bakoyannis since two years ago, when the latter abandoned her centrist party to join forces with New Democracy ahead of the June 2012 general elections.

Bakoyannis is also in the frame to become Greece’s representative on the European Commission. It is a position that is known to interest her. Sources said that neither job was offered to the former minister during the meeting.

Filling the position at the Finance Ministry remains the key to the imminent reshuffle, which is not expected to be sweeping. Sources said that Defense Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos, State Minister Dimitris Stamatis, Tourism Minister Olga Kefaloyianni, Infrastructure Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis, Environment Minister Yiannis Maniatis, Administrative Reform Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and possibly Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis are either expected to keep their current positions or retain a place in the cabinet.

Stournaras is expected to become the next Bank of Greece governor. On Friday, he attacked SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras for referring to the finance minister in an interview with French daily Le Monde as being “imposed by Berlin.”

“It is a shame that he attacks the Greek finance minister in an interview with a foreign newspaper using such language,” said Stournaras. “He is consciously doing harm to his...