New ministers take over their posts

THREE OF the four new ministers appointed last Friday took over from their predecessors yesterday during brief ceremonies at the ministries of Interior, Health and Transport.

The fourth, Foreign Minister Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis, took over from George Lillikas on Monday.

Yesterday Marcoullis, a career diplomat who was heading up the Cyprus problem desk at the Ministry announced she would be visiting Athens in the coming weeks for talks with her Greek counterpart Dora Bakoyianni.

Marcoullis said she would continue the government’s programme and repeated that that the Cyprus issue could only be solved within the framework of international and UN resolutions. She also criticised the Annan plan, calling it a danger which could have led to the dissolution of the Cyprus Republic.

Over at the other three ministries, incoming ministers Christos Patsalides at Interior, Costas Kadi at Health and Maria Malaktou-Pamballi at Transport, all paid tribute to their predecessors.

The four AKEL ministers resigned last week when party leader Demetris Christofias was backed by members to run against President Tassos Papadopoulos. The move spelled the end of the government alliance.

Yesterday’s outgoing ministers, Harris Thrassou, Charis Charlambous and Neoclis Sylikiotis spoke about the accomplishments of their ministries during their time in office during the ceremonies.

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.