The government on Monday summarily brushed off demands by Akel and Diko that interior minister Constandinos Petrides should quit because of his involvement in the election campaign of the incumbent, President Nicos Anastasiades.
The election campaign teams of Stavros Malas (Akel) and Nicolas Papadopoulos (Diko) suggested that if the upcoming presidential election process is to be considered unimpeachable, Petrides must resign and be replaced by a caretaker minister until after the elections.
Both campaign teams took exception with the fact that Petrides has been actively and very publically engaged in campaigning for his boss, Anastasiades.
Over the weekend, Petrides took part in an election-related event organised by Nedisy, the youth wing of the ruling Disy party.
Perhaps rubbing it in, he later uploaded photos from the event to his Facebook page.
This, said Akel and Diko, was highly inappropriate, as the minister of the interior in Cyprus is also the official responsible for the elections.
In a statement, Malas’ campaign team accused the Anastasiades administration of “not even bothering to keep up appearances” in terms of the notional distinction between a minister’s duty as a member of a government to serve all the people and his role as a party apparatchik.
This conflict of interest was typical of the current administration, which is why it needs to be replaced, the statement added.
Chiming in, Papadopoulos’ election team said Petrides’ daily involvement with electioneering was provoking voters.
They called on Anastasiades to replace Petrides and, if he did not, they would hold the president personally accountable for the undermining of institutions.
Responding, government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides dismissed the calls as a gimmick.
“In all democratic countries, ministers of a government, as political persons, have a responsibility but also an obligation to support government policy and the work of the government, especially when it is subject to daily unbridled criticism.”
The spokesman added that the elections procedures are “impeccable…and cannot be denied by anyone.”
Backing up the government, ruling Disy pointed to the inconsistency of the administration’s detractors.
Disy recalled that in 2013 Malas – who was again the Akel candidate – did not ask for the resignation of Eleni Mavrou ahead of the presidential elections that year.
An Akel cadre, Mavrou was the interior minister at the time.
