By Charlie Charalambous
PERSISTENT sleaze allegations finally caught up with Interior Minister Dinos Michaelides yesterday, when he decided to step down from a position to which he had so far tenaciously clung.
“My conscience is clear that I have conscientiously served my country and its people,” a composed Michaelides said on announcing his resignation yesterday.
With Michaelides declaring his intention to resign by today, and President Clerides gratefully ready to receive it second time round, a full reshuffle now seems inevitable.
Clerides had refused Michaelides’ first offer to resign last December.
But by yesterday, the embattled minister’s position had become untenable, following government spokesman Christos Stylianides’ resignation on Tuesday in protest at the cabinet’s controversial backing for Michaelides.
The Council of Ministers last week cleared Michaelides of wrongdoing after a critical ombudsman’s report questioned the motives behind planning changes to land which the minister later bought.
The writing had been on the wall from earlier yesterday, when Disy boss Nicos Anastassiades mischievously “thanked” Michaelides for his services to government, even before the resignation was made official.
Anastassiades was speaking after a three-hour meeting with Clerides, at which the Disy leader is said to have persuaded the president that a major reshuffle was essential.
Clerides had given reporters an emphatic “no” when asked about a possible reshuffle on Tuesday, but the tide has turned since then.
Even as stubborn political survivor as Michaelides knew his time had come to jump before he was pushed.
“It is acknowledged that I have been vindicated by all institutional procedures,” Michaelides told a waiting press pack after meeting President Clerides yesterday.
“Despite this fact, I informed the president this morning that I would hand in my resignation in writing by tomorrow (Thursday).”
While Stylianides on Tuesday cited “reasons of principle” for his sudden departure from government, Michaelides, ever the shrewd political operator, presented his resignation as a loyal move to protect his president – a president who had refused to accept the minister’s first offer to resign last December, even though two criminal investigators were being appointed to probe corruption allegations.
“I am grateful to the president for his support and particularly for conveying decisively the message that he does not abandon his ministers when they are defamed or slandered,” the Interior Minister said in a written statement.
Michaelides was taking a passing swipe at his tormentor, Disy deputy Christos Pourgourides, whose dogged pursuit of Michaelides with damning sleaze allegations – despite two state probes and a cabinet exoneration – seems finally to have paid off.
Clerides must now realise that his unwavering support for Michaelides cost his government vital public support and gave endless ammunition to the opposition – in a majority in the House since Edek’s December resignation from the government.
“My resignation is necessary as a political move to protect the President of the Republic from increasing petty politics, which have obvious objectives and goals,” Michaelides’ statement said.
“My esteem towards President Clerides is well known as is the fact that I have sacrificed an enviable political career and positions for his election.”
Michaelides had been Diko’s Interior Minister in the coalition government which collapsed in November 1997 when party leader Spyros Kyprianou pulled out.
But Michaelides’ so-called sacrifice – breaking party ranks to support Clerides’ re-election campaign – was in fact rewarded when he got his old job back in the new government.
