By Martin Hellicar
DIKO leader Spyros Kyprianou “constantly” sought nepotistic favours while his party was in government, President Clerides claimed yesterday.
Clerides said Kyprianou had even asked for then Justice Minister Alecos Evangelou to be sacked last year because he had refused to approve the appointment of Diko followers to police positions. The president said he had refused to meet Kyprianou’s demand for Evangelou to go and had also rejected his erstwhile government coalition partner’s “persistent” demands for nepotistic appointments to government positions.
Evangelou eventually lost his cabinet post in a reshuffle a few months after his blow-out with Kyprianou.
The President was responding yesterday to opposition claims that nepotism had been the order of the day during his five years of government.
He said he had been so “totally unwilling” to use his position to grant “favours” to anyone that he had at times even caused displeasure within the ranks of his own party, Disy.
“No one asked me for nepotistic favours because everyone knew I would reject any such proposals,” he said during a morning radio interview. Kyprianou, according to Clerides, was a glaring exception to this rule.
Kyprianou pulled Diko out of a government coalition with Disy late last year. His centre-right party have since formed a pact with left-wing Akel to back former Foreign Minister George Iacovou in the February 8 presidential elections.
Clerides is seeking re-election with the backing of right-wing Disy.
Diko’s response to the President’s attack, in a statement yesterday afternoon, was typical of the tone adopted in exchanges between Disy and Diko in past weeks.
“Mr Kyprianou and the Diko party were forced on numerous occasions to react to the orgy of nepotism indulged in by Clerides and his associates,” the statement read.
“The ease with which Mr Clerides and his associates try to transpose the blame for their nepotistic practices onto Mr Kyprianou and Diko is quite amazing,” Diko added.
Diko charged Clerides with “twisting” the truth with “blatant and false claims.”
Edek leader Vassos Lyssarides, also running for President, added his two pennies worth to the nepotism debate by claiming the practice had been “rampant” during the Clerides years.
