Emba, Cyprus. President Nikos Christodoulides on Sunday declined to comment on whether he will carry out a cabinet reshuffle following last month’s parliamentary elections, in which two of the three parties supporting his government lost all their seats.
Speaking to reporters during a visit to the Paphos district village of Emba, he said that any such move would be announced only when decided.
President declines to comment
“I have no comment. Reshuffles are not announced, they are executed. When something happens, there will be an announcement made by the presidential palace,” Christodoulides said.
The remarks came after the May 24 parliamentary elections, in which both Dipa and Edek were left without representation in the legislature.
Impact on government-backed parties
Following the election result, Christodoulides said, “Dipa and Edek deserved to be in the new House, and have proven it”.
The two parties currently control three ministries. Labour Minister Marinos Mousiouttas and Defence Minister Vasilis Palmas belong to Dipa, while Agriculture Minister Maria Panayiotou belongs to Edek.
Previous reshuffle in December
Christodoulides last reshuffled his cabinet in December last year, making six changes.
Michael Damianos was moved from the health ministry to the energy ministry and was replaced by Neophytos Charalambides. Mousiouttas was appointed labour minister. Costas Fitiris was appointed justice minister, replacing Marios Hartsiotis, who was moved to the role of commissioner of the presidency. Clea Hadjistefanou-Papaellina was appointed social welfare deputy minister.
Edek reaction to earlier changes
Edek expressed dissatisfaction with that reshuffle. Party leader Nikos Anastasiou said, “we expected that the president … would see Edek in a better light”, while ruling out withdrawing the party’s support for the government.
In an earlier statement, the party said that “Edek’s sincere efforts so far to contribute with proposals and positions to the success of the government’s work and its selfless behaviour seem to have not been appreciated,” and that “the rudimentary information shows a lack of respect for Edek.”
Reports concerning agriculture minister
Before the December reshuffle, reports had widely suggested that Panayiotou could lose her post after comments she made during a wildfire in the Limassol district in July last year which killed two people.
She had said of the fire that “the only way we could have prevented [it] was for it not to have started”.
