House stalls on salaries for presidential staff

The House finance committee on Monday said it needed a few more days before deciding on whether to rubberstamp the release of €250,000 in wages for seven presidential staff.

The committee was set to release the funds, included in the 2016 state budget, on Monday. Ruling DISY and DIKO are in favour, but main opposition AKEL said they oppose the disbursement as a matter of principle.
“One cannot with the greatest ease approve €250,000 in funds while at the same time – and this testifies to the government’s social insensitivity – dozens of bus drivers of the Zenon company are on strike, demanding for the entire year a mere €47,000, with the government ignoring them and threatening them,” said AKEL MP Stavros Evagorou.
According to information submitted in parliament, the annual salaries for the seven presidential aides are as follows: Elena Atalioti €29,440; Kyriaki Ataliotou €29,440; Pambos Charalambous €51,002; Andros Michaelides €43,899; Victoras Papadopoulos €38,912; Maria Angelopoulou €30,431; and Maria Charalambous €26,538.

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