DIKO-AKEL confirm candidate for Paphos mayor

By George Psyllides
Supported by opposition parties DIKO and AKEL, accountant Aristos Vassiliades has become the first prime contender to run for mayor of Paphos after the resignation of Savvas Vergas, who is facing corruption charges.
“I am responding to the encouragement of many fellow citizens that was displayed in various ways in the past days,” Vassiliades said.
Vassiliades asked for the support of the public “to make Paphos clean and proud again.”
Though claiming to be an “independent candidate”, Vassiliades, 60, is a member of DIKO – without previous involvement in party proceedings.
His father Nicos was a DIKO MP who worked as an accountant for the Paphos Bishopric.
EDEK said they will decide on Monday whether to support Vassiliades. The party will likely do so because fielding their own candidate would probably mean the election of DISY candidate Phedonas Phedonos. Phedonos has not officially announced his candidacy yet but is expected to do so this coming week.
The need for the January 11 election came about after former mayor Vergas resigned amid corruption accusations.
Vergas, also a DIKO member, is accused of receiving millions in bribes and kickbacks.
The racket involved a group of individuals who conspired to charge extra – and unnecessary – work, sharing the spoils between them.
Along with Vergas, police arrested the sewerage council director Eftihios Malekkides, DISY councillor Giorgos Michaelides, and former councillor Efstathios Efstathiou.
Reports said Mallekides has started giving police vital information, which could lead to new arrests.
Mallekides gave police a lengthy statement on Friday evening, reports said, even naming politicians as the recipients of kickbacks.
Authorities were trying to track down overseas bank accounts belonging to the suspects.
Investigators said previously that a probe into the bank records of Vergas and Malekkides revealed amounts of approximately €6 million in the former mayor’s account and €1.9 million in the PSB director’s account.
Police also said that in recent years Malekkides appears to have made several transactions of large amounts, such as the construction of a house evaluated at €0.5 million, and the purchase of land worth approximately €400,000, while his salary, deposited into his account on a monthly basis, remained untouched.
In his statement to police, Vergas had also implicated two Paphos MPs, Andreas Fakontis of AKEL and EDEK’s Phidias Sarikas, who have strongly denied the allegations and expressed readiness to open their bank accounts.
The attorney-general said there were no plans at this point to request the removal of the legislators’ immunity so that they could be investigated.
The four suspects are currently held in custody but their remand order expires on Sunday.

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