Anastassiades: Time for new faces in the Cabinet

GOVERNING Disy yesterday cranked up the pressure on President Glafcos Clerides to reshuffle his cabinet.

Before yesterday, the party had not taken sides in an ongoing debate between Disy members who want new faces in the Cabinet, and the government, which does not.

But Disy leader Nicos Anastassiades showed his hand yesterday, saying there was a need for the government to "make changes" to its image, dropping a heavy hint that some Ministers had exceeded their shelf life.

Though Government Spokesman Michalis Papapetrou yesterday repeated that the President was happy with his Cabinet make-up, the pressure for change appears to be growing.

Observers suggest Disy fear the government’s low popularity rating could drag the party down in next year’s parliamentary election.

These fears are apparently fuelled by a recent report from the right-wing party’s Greek image consultant, Yiannos Loullis.

Loullis’ report, which has not been made public, has been heavily criticised by Interior Minister Christodoulos Christodoulou, who, on Wednesday, insisted the government was doing fine.

Anastassiades took issue with Christodoulou yesterday, insisting Loullis was a man whose opinions should be listened to.

"It is not the mirror’s fault if we have put on weight; we do not break the mirror to destroy our image," Anastassiades said.

The Disy leader added that Loullis’ expertise had been instrumental in getting Clerides re-elected President in 1998.

"I am given to believe that he has also helped Ministers with their image," Anastassiades said.

Clerides’ government relies on Disy support in parliament, so Anastassiades’ concerns about the government’s image could be bad news for the President.

But Government Spokesman Papapetrou yesterday insisted Clerides was not fearful of loosing Disy’s support. "The President is not at all worried about such an eventuality," he said.

"I repeat that the President of the Republic is very satisfied by the government’s image and does not consider that there is any issue of a reshuffle," Papapetrou stated.

Commerce Minister Nicos Rolandis weighed in on Clerides’ side yesterday, saying the government was doing "good work".

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.