Despite the initial “grumbling,” the House of Representatives, through its Finance Committee, ultimately approved the purchase of a new presidential limousine costing nearly €600,000.

The debate took place behind closed doors, with DISY, AKEL, ELAM, and DIKO all supporting the purchase of the new armored presidential vehicle. Odysseas Michaelides opposed the move from the outset, questioning why the existing vehicle needs to be replaced. Direct Democracy has not yet taken a position. Representatives from the relevant government agencies attended

the discussion. They were asked, among other things, to explain why the purchase is deemed necessary and whether Nikos Christodoulides and the current President of the Republic are indeed kept fully informed about the vehicle’s vehicle. “A purely technocratic process was followed

. A proposal to purchase a new armored vehicle was presented to the President without any specific reference to him personally. What needs to be done is to retire the 2010 backup vehicle and designate the current one as the new backup armored vehicle. Thus, the new vehicle, which is expected to be ready by late 2027 or early 2028, will be the President of the Republic’s new official vehicle.”
_{Ilias Elikkos – Director General of the Ministry of the Interior}

Most political parties focused on the President’s initial statement, in which he claimed ignorance.

“We wonder why the President chose to irreparably compromise himself by claiming he was unaware of his own cabinet.”
<sub>Aristos Damianou – AKEL

Member of Parliament</sub> The Deputy Government Spokesperson admitted to mishandling the situation. 

“When the President said he didn’t know, he meant he wasn’t aware of the specifications. // So was it a mistake? You could put it that way.”
_{Yiannis Antoniou – Deputy Government Spokesperson}

It was also explained that the amount of €595,000 is the maximum the limousine can cost, since the price may be reduced during the bidding process. The most recent purchases of presidential vehicles took place in 2010 under Demetris Christofias and in 2019 under Nicos Anastasiades, and cost nearly €300,000. For technocrats, it is reasonable to expect a need for replacement every 8–9 years due to wear and tear and to bring the vehicles up to modern standards. The current vehicle has already covered 200,000 kilometers. It

will be able to hit the roads in at least 1.5 years, not immediately.

They’re looking for the…culprit

At the same time, lawmakers and the government are passing the buck back and forth over the leak of the classified letter requesting the purchase of the limousine.

““No purchase is classified as far as I’m concerned. After all, weapons and other systems are made public.”

ELAM, through Marios Pelekanos, has already sent a letter to the Speaker of the House requesting an internal investigation into the leak as well as a complaint to the police for the investigation of criminal or other offensesoffenses.

See the report by Evangelos Agapios: