Nothing to indicate state paid for president’s re-election campaign launch

THE Audit Office did not find anything indicating that the government footed the bill for the event in which President Nicos Anastasiades announced he would be running for a second term, it was reported on Monday.

According to daily Alithia, Auditor-general Odysseas Michaelides ordered a probe into claims by Greens’ MP, Giorgos Perdikis that the official announcement of Anastasiades’ presidential candidacy was paid for by taxpayers.

Anastasiades officially announced some two weeks ago he would run for a second term in next year’s presidential elections as he was officially giving a rundown of his administration’s achievements to date.

Perdikis said last week that the House watchdog committee asked the Auditor-general to scrutinise the “election fiesta” Anastasiades organised with public funds.

According to Alithia, the probe – launched promptly – did not find that public funds were used for the organisation of the event that took place at the Filoxenia conference centre in Nicosia. The audit office however, has not announced the results of the probe yet, nor is it known if it will.

Anastasiades’ camp said last week that “not a single cent” had been spent from state coffers or the Presidency of the Republic for the event that took place on October 14.

Ruling party Disy had said in an announcement that it had no objection to the auditor-general looking into who paid for the event, and urged Perdikis to also ask for a probe into the expenses made by the camp of presidential candidate Nicolas Papadopoulos, who has the backing of the Greens.

Citizens, Disy said, “are scandalised by the expensive campaign of Papadopoulos” especially when the law provides for a restriction in spending in such cases.

 

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