A RETIRED headmaster and part-time member of the secret service is asking for a job from former pupils because he hasn’t been paid by his current employer — the Presidential Palace.
Presidential adviser Christos Artemiou says he has worked for the past five months without pay.
He already has a case pending against the government for breach of contract, and is now raising money to pay for another case claiming back pay.
Artemiou has been employed at the Presidential Palace since 1995.
His claims arise from a new bill passed in the house which states pensioners working for the government are no longer needed.
"The President and I have signed a contract to expire when the Presidential term runs out, and by breaking it the state is breaching the law," Artemiou complained.
He has repeatedly asked the President Glafcos Clerides to let him go but the President refuses on the grounds that ‘he liked his work’.
Akel, one of the parties that voted in favour of the bill, argues that the former high-school headmaster should be able cope just fine on his monthly pension of £2,000.
"At the moment, my lawyer and I are waiting to hear from the Court. I am prepared to go as far as the International Court of Human Rights to win this battle," said Artemiou.
He says he has not resigned because he was told by Palace officials that they would somehow find subsidies to pay him until the next presidential election.
But according to the Under-secretary to the President, Pantelis Kouros, there is not much the state or the Palace can do.
"There are no subsidies available for the Palace to use, but if the Court hears that Artemiou should be compensated, then the state has no other option.
"It was the parliament’s decision (to let Artemiou go), not ours, and the situation is now entirely beyond our control," Kouros said.
Attorney-general Alecos Markides has suggested to all parties involved that the government should table the issue of pensioners before the House Plenum, advising them to revise their decision.
Failing that, Markides said the government should come up with subsidies to reimburse them.
Artemiou said: "It is deplorable. What would the European Union say about this? I am fighting, not only for my rights, but also for those of all the other pensioners who have been left jobless."
Artemiou said he faces big debts because of the loans he took out to pay the fees for his three children’s medical studies and he has placed a job advertisement in Alithia newspaper, appealing to his former pupils.
Akel sources said yesterday that the bill had to pass.
"The state faces a huge public deficit and the only way to keep it down is by cutting back on unnecessary spending. The truth is, we no longer need pensioners in government offices. There are a great number of unemployed young graduates desperately needed. It is not the Parliament who appointed Artemiou, it is the government, and it is now responsible for finding a way to compensate him."
