Nicosia, Cyprus. Akel leader Stefanos Stefanou on Friday defended his party’s decision to vote against a government bill to extend European Affairs Deputy Minister Marilena Raouna’s term by five months. The bill was rejected on Thursday night amid a dispute between the government and Disy, which also voted against it.
Criticism of government handling
Stefanou said the government had submitted the bill at the last minute and criticised what he described as the president’s reaction to criticism.
“What is known is the president’s reaction when he receives criticism. He blames everything on the opposition or on perceived anti-Europeanism. Of course, we have a different perception. However, this does not mean that everyone who disagrees with the government is anti-European,” he said.
He said that if there had been proper planning, the government would have known earlier that an extension was needed, rather than introducing the matter through an emergency procedure and asking parliament to decide immediately.
Call for committee review
Stefanou said the matter should first have been referred to the House foreign affairs committee so that the government could explain why the extension was considered necessary.
“If the explanations convinced us, then we would decide accordingly, but first, we had to know the reasons,” he said.
Reference to 2012 precedent
Stefanou also referred to the only previous occasion on which Cyprus held the Council of the European Union’s rotating presidency. He noted that this was the only time in Cyprus’ history that the appointment of a European affairs deputy minister had been linked to that role.
He said that then-president Demetris Christofias appointed Andreas Mavroyiannis to the post in 2012, and that Mavroyiannis remained in office until the end of January 2013, one month after Cyprus’ six-month presidency ended.
In referring to that precedent, Stefanou indicated, as Disy had also done, that maintaining a European affairs deputy minister when Cyprus is not holding the Council of the EU’s rotating presidency may be unnecessary.