The noose is tightening around the director of the President’s office as opposition and coalition parties unite in calling on Nikos Christodoulides to dismiss Charalambos Charalambous from his post over the fake investor scandal.
The Presidential Palace has shown no intention of taking further action beyond the First Lady’s resignation from the Independent Social Support Body, and pressures are not expected to ease following that departure alone.
AKEL General Secretary Stefanos Stefanou addressed the president in an open letter yesterday, following two days of public statements.
In the letter, Stefanou said the president’s reaction to the scandal could be interpreted in two ways: “Either you do not grasp the seriousness of the matter, which is extremely problematic for the institution you represent, or you tolerate unacceptable practices.”
He criticised the president’s stance as falling short of the circumstances and undermining his pre-election and post-election statements about corruption. Stefanou added that the claim the video resulted from hostile “foreign finger” actions “was reused in the past for the golden passports scandal and is a claim that not only failed to convince, but exposed and defamed Cyprus internationally.”
The AKEL leader wrote that when the president allows close associates “to implicate him in decisions and procedures that lie outside all political ethics and beyond the frameworks of the law, he strikes the institution [of the President] and becomes complicit in potential offences, even criminal ones.”
Stefanou repeated that the president should have dismissed his office director, abolished the authority chaired by the First Lady, disclosed donors and demanded action from the competent institutions.
“Unfortunately, your stance confirms that you are simply recycling the old practices of not assuming political responsibility, covering up scandals and impunity. If you truly want to leave power with clean hands, as you have sometimes stated, you still have the opportunity to do so. The choice is yours: confrontation with corruption or identification with it?” Stefanou wrote.
DIKO leader Nicholas Papadopoulos went to the Presidential Palace to discuss the matter with President Christodoulides, hear his responses and brief his party, which continued discussing the issue yesterday evening.
DIKO made three proposals and will wait to see decisions made. The moves are:
(a) suspension or resignation of Charalambos Charalambous,
(b) the First Lady’s fund to transfer to the Cyprus Youth Organisation, and
(c) appointment of special criminal investigators to examine issues arising from the video.
EDEK expects honest answers from the government and decisions on transparency. In a statement, EDEK said the movement has “no doubt that the publication of the controversial video aims to inflict a blow against the credibility, prestige and reputation of the Republic of Cyprus, as it coincides with the start of the Cypriot Presidency of the Council of the European Union and with geopolitical developments.”
EDEK suggested that “those behind this type of hybrid warfare would not have fertile ground if it were not provided to them by those who are implicated with their statements and evidently with their actions, which refer to entanglement, corruption, cash trafficking and favouritism with quid pro quos.”
The movement believes “the practices of the past have not been abandoned” and demands drastic decisions, including full transparency for all government and presidency-related funds with disclosure of amounts and sources, and removal of the government official appearing in the video and all those involved in these procedures.
Meanwhile, the Greens expressed “respect and appreciation for Mrs Karsera’s action, which applies the saying ‘Caesar’s wife must not only be honest, but must be seen to be honest.’ Her sensitivity and integrity are honourable.”
They expect “the director of the President’s office, Mr Charalambos Charalambous, to take similar action displaying the same sensitivity and integrity.”
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