Who will be Cyprus’ commissioner?

SPECULATION was again rife yesterday over who would be appointed as the island’s European commissioner in Brussels.

Many names have been mooted, but reports yesterday said President Tassos Papadopoulos was preparing to surprise everyone with his choice.

One report insisted that the President’s prime candidate was Commerce and Industry Minister, George Lillikas. Lillikas, however, has said he is not interested in the position for personal reasons.

Despite this, rumours insist Lillikas has all the qualifications for commissioner and has come under pressure to have second thoughts.

Finance Minister Marcos Kyprianou could be a candidate should Lillikas stick to his guns, but Foreign Minister George Iacovou and Government Spokesman Kypros Crysostomides have been ruled out from consideration, reports said.

Other names floating around are those of former foreign minister Yiannakis Cassoulides, Auditor-general Chrystalla Yiokadji and former DISY leader Yiannakis Matsis. The name of DISY deputy Demetris Syllouris has also been mentioned.

The President, however, has pointed out to all suitors that he does not want any party apparatchiks and that all names should fulfil his high specifications.

Reports yesterday said the person who would fill the position would not be revealed until Papadopoulos had exchanged views on the matter with the President of the European Commission Romano Prodi.

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.