STATE coffers were not dented by a demand for a change of official limousine from House President Spyros Kyprianou, Government Spokesman Michalis Papapetrou vowed yesterday.
But the spokesman also rubbished Kyprianou’s claims that the luxury car originally granted him by the state was “problematic”.
Kyprianou’s insistence that he be given a top-of-the-range BMW to replace the £100,000-plus S320 Mercedes provided by the state has drawn criticism from Politis newspaper.
Kyprianou has dismissed the Politis criticism as “ridiculous” and insists he is entitled to whatever car he wants – subject to Finance Ministry approval. As former President, 69-year-old Kyprianou gets to keep the brand new state-provided BMW when he hangs up his political boots come May.
Papapetrou yesterday said the government had only acceded to Kyprianou’s demand for a change of official conveyance after making sure this would not mean added cost to the taxpayer. He said the unwanted Mercedes would be given to Kyprianou’s successor as House President.
“The government, in view of fact that Mr Kyprianou is very soon leaving his post as House president and, as a former President of the Republic, is allowed a car, considered that because there would be no additional cost for the Republic or state funds it should go ahead and satisfy Mr Kyprianou’s request for another car and use the car he rejected for the next entitled person, who will be the president of the next House,” Papapetrou said.
But Papapetrou also dismissed Kyprianou’s claims that the Mercedes was imperfect: “The car is suitable for use, but we decided to do this (give Kyprianou a BMW) after Mr Kyprianou’s insistence,” he said.
Kyprianou had repeatedly complained that the Mercedes, given to him only nine months ago, had problems, but mechanics had declared it problem-free, Papapetrou said.
Politis has also accused Kyprianou of pocketing a $25,000 prize given to him in Moscow in January for his “contribution to Orthodox unity”. Kyprianou insists the prize money was given to him personally and he therefore had every right to keep it. The chairman of the House watchdog committee, Christos Pourgourides, has suggested Kyprianou’s actions vis-a-vis the Moscow prise raised “ethical questions”.
Papapetrou was cautious in commenting on the prize money issue yesterday, saying only that such things were “ethical” matters which different people had different takes on.
Kyprianou yesterday carried out his threat to sue Politis over the prize money allegations.
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.
