Is the appointment of persons with a blatant conflict of interest an innovative policy?

 

21 January 2024, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia

President Christodoulides, replying yesterday to the fierce criticism exercised by society and political forces over the new fiasco regarding the appointments he made to the boards of semi-governmental organisations, said that “every innovation entails reactions”. We wonder – as the whole of society is wondering too – with astonishment the following:

• Does the appointment of persons with an obvious conflict of interest represent an innovative measure when persons who are called upon to serve critical organisations at a time when they themselves have financial and other interests in companies competing with the semi-governmental organisations?
• Is it innovation to promote cronies with the sole criterion being their support of the candidacy of Christodoulides? Is the effort to ensure a balance between the parties supporting the government an innovation?
• Is the spiteful exclusion of almost all candidates from the left an innovation, when many of them have already had a very successful presence on the boards of semi-public enterprises and have qualifications and experience that would be the envy of all candidates – violating an informal principle that has prevailed for many years that the opposition should have a presence on these boards for the purposes of transparency, composition and exercising scrutiny?
• Can Mr. Christodoulides’ collusion with the fascist far-right and the appointment of someone praising the Greek junta and fascism to the board of a university be considered innovative?
• Is the looming legal mess caused by Christodoulides’ clumsy manipulations a novel measure?