Nicos Christodoulides clearly pointed the finger of blame at the three ministers and the deputy minister who got the chop yesterday, barring one. Marios Hartsiotis is being moved in the hierarchy, but does however stay on as Minister to the President
As Politis notes, former energy minister Yiorgos Papanastasiou, Labour Yiorgos Panayiotou and deputy Social Welfare Marilena Evangelou bore the brunt of the President Christodoulides displeasure at government work problems and ineffectiveness. The Hartsiotis new portfolio is believed to be a favour, sugarcoating the demotion.
Ministry changes
As the same sources tell Politis the changes to the energy, labour, justice, health and social welfare ministries have a specific purpose and essentially constitute a vote of confidence to the parties that supported Christodoulides in his election campaign, more to the point, centre wing Democratic Party and DIPA.
Where the President’s focus was
A first reading of the new Cabinet personalities, but also internal reshuffling, indicate a very specific direction of appointments from the pool of political forces that helped the current President get elected. So while keeping one minister on the frontline of controversy, Agriculture Minister Maria Panayiotou, a socialist EDEK figure, who was severely criticised for her handling of the major Limassol fire last July, Christodoulides has also brought in another two well known officials of coalition parties, DIPA MP Marinos Mousiouttas and Democratic Party official Neophytos Charalambides.
Notwithstanding his move to the Energy Ministry, fact remains that DIKO's Michalis Damianos is still in the government mix, along with DIPA’s defence minister Vasilis Palmas.
Politis sources further stress that this approach balances the pushing out of Yiannis Panayiotou, who did not manage to survive the pressures of social actors (of COLA negotiations), that demanded his chop, but also raises coalition parties back to five ministries, with Socialist EDEK out in the cold, as not even Maria Panayiotou is now considered a member of the party.
What’s separate as a reshuffling chapter is the appointment of retired rear admiral Constandinos Fytiris as Justice Minister, which might be interpreted as a nudge to the extreme right. In addition, keeping Marios Hartsiotis as Minister to the President, is considered as an attempt by the President not to completely alienate the Limassol Bishopric, with Hartsiotis still serving as their legal counsel.
It is also noted that Christodoulides is opening or rather maintaining communication lines with the influential Papaellinas family by appointing Klea Hadistefanou Papaellina as deputy social welfare minister, replacing Marilena Evangelou.
Parliament reshuffling
The ministerial appointment of DIPA MP Marios Mouiouttas introduces new parliamentary faces, albeit for a few months, as former CNA Director Yiorgos Penintaex, runner up to Mousiouttas in the Nicosia ballot, gets the nod, after securing 1765 votes in the election.
New ministers will be sworn in on Monday December 8th.