Appointments to quasi-governmental organizations have sparked a new wave of protests against the government. Allegations that individuals were selected without having submitted an application, as well as the selection of a person to serve on the board of directors of an organization where his wife works, have turned the opposition against the actions of the Advisory Council and the Cabinet.
In a statement, AKEL strongly criticized the government and the Advisory Council, citing the exclusion of the Left from the appointments, while in a new statement it alleges that several individuals were appointed without even having submitted an application to the Advisory Council.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
“The Advisory Council was not merely bypassed. It was completely nullified and used as a pretext for the Christodoulides government and the parties supporting it to push through predetermined appointments. If appointments were indeed made without applications, they must submit their resignations; otherwise, they themselves will bear the political and institutional responsibility for the debasement of the institution.”
AKEL
“80% of the Advisory Council”
Government sources told Alpha that the Advisory Council is a purely advisory body and that the final authority to appoint members of semi-governmental organizations rests with the President of the Republic and the cabinet. According to reports, approximately 80% were appointed following their own applications to the Advisory Council. The remaining 15% were appointed based on recommendations from the President and the ministers. Specifically, 74 of the 95 individuals selected came from the advisory council.
The government distinguishes AKEL from the Left, stating that while there are individuals with left-wing backgrounds among the appointees, none are from Ezekia Papaioannou’s party.
SEE ALSO: Cabinet to Decide on Replacement of Cyta Board Member; Advisory Council’s Operating Procedures to Be Presented to Parliament
The Advisory Council’s Position
In a statement to Alpha, the Chairman of the Advisory Council, Giorgos Arestis, made it clear that the council has no responsibility for making political decisions and that its authority is limited to submitting recommendations to the ministersand the President.
“Our obligation is limited to receiving applications and nominating three qualified candidates for each position, and that is what we did. We submitted our recommendations many weeks ago. Beyond that, the body has no responsibility for appointing individuals or for vetting potential conflicts of interest.”
George Arestis – Chairman of the Advisory Council
READ ALSO: Reactions to Quasi-Governmental Entities: Replacement of a CYTA Board Member; AKEL Denounces Appointments Made Without Applications
The mistake at CYTA
The Independent Telecommunications Workers’ Union (ASET-CYTA) kicked off the wave of reactions this morning, stating that the wife of the new vice president of ATIK, Loizos Economides, works at the organization as a secretary to a senior executive, citing two other grounds for incompatibility. The government has confirmed this and is proceeding to revoke the appointment and replace him with a new person as soon as possible.
As reported, the vice president of ATIK was responsible for disclosing the conflict of interest for the sake of transparency, in accordance with legislation stating that: “No person shall be appointed to or retain the position of Chair, Vice Chair, or member of the Board of Directors, if that person, or his or her spouse or first-degree relative, is professionally engaged […] in the activities of the legal entity to which he or she is appointed.” Article 3B of Law 149/1988
Late in the afternoon, another CYTA union, PASE-ATIK, claimed that there was no conflict with warnings issued to the government.
“Any action to remove Mr. Oikonomides from this position, as a result of pressure stemming from baseless and biased media reports will force our union to withdraw its confidence in the President of the Republic and the Government.”
PASE-ATIK Union
On this matter, sources from the Advisory Council state that it would be appropriate for the relevant ministry to conduct a due diligence review.
READ ALSO: “He Had Not Disclosed His Relationship”: The removal of Cyta’s new board member is being considered following the backlash
In the Institutions Committee
The appointments were also discussed in Pindarou, despite the fact that individuals from within the party were included in the appointments. DISY did not issue a statement; however, the party’s parliamentary spokesperson stated in a post that the issue of the appointments will be discussed in the House’s Institutions Committee.
“Following yesterday’s appointments, the issue that arose at Cyta and the reports of individuals being appointed without having applied will be brought before the House’s Institutions Committee to review the functioning of the Advisory Council.”
Dimitris Dimitriou – DISY Member of Parliament
The appointments had a…center-right flavor, just like Nikos Christodoulides’ cabinet reshuffle.
Other appointments are also expected in the near future. Among them are members of the ONEK Board of Directors, which, due to resignations, is unable to convene. As a result, virtually no decisions have been made in the past nearly five months.
Watch Evangelos Agapios’s report:
