In the end, the Nikos Christodoulides government is promoting the transformation, not the abolition, of the Social Support Agency. To this end, a draft amending bill is being prepared for submission to the House, aimed at revising the existing legislation governing the Agency’s operation, as confirmed to Politis on Tuesday by Irini Piki, Deputy Minister to the President. Piki has been invited to attend Wednesday’s meeting of the House Institutions Committee where the future of this charitable fund will be discussed – a fund that, unfortunately, has become associated in the public mind with practices of opacity and vote-seeking.
When the ‘videogate’ scandal broke, President Christodoulides announced that the abolition of the Agency was being considered. The presidential statement sought to defuse public outrage triggered by the much-discussed video, which suggested that for a major investor to bypass bureaucratic procedures or secure the President’s favour, he would have to contribute to the Agency’s Fund – which was chaired by the First Lady.
‘Videogate’ forced First Lady Filippa Karsera to resign as chair of the Agency and the President’s son-in-law, Charalambos Charalambous, to step down as head of the Presidential Office.
We will never know
From March 2023 – when the First Lady assumed the presidency of the Agency’s Management Committee – until the end of 2025, a total of €6.4 million was deposited into the Fund, coming exclusively from private donations. However, the identity of these donors and the amount contributed by each will never be known, as both the Attorney General, Giorgos Savvides, and the Commissioner for Personal Data Protection, Maria Manoli Christofidou, blocked the parliamentary scrutiny initiated by the Institutions Committee, citing violations of personal data.
Parliament split in two
DISY also supports the transformation of the Agency and has submitted a bill to amend current legislation in order to introduce clear procedures that enhance transparency and public accountability.
At the meeting of the Institutions Committee, a second bill will also be examined – one that proposes the dissolution of the Agency. Behind the two conflicting proposals stand the two major parliamentary parties: DISY and AKEL.
Given that the Christodoulides government favours the Agency’s transformation, efforts are expected to be made to secure the support of the governing partners DIKO, DIPA and EDEK for the bill that the Labour Ministry will submit to Parliament. If the necessary majority cannot be secured, the government is certain to back DISY’s proposal.
Why abolish it?
The bill to abolish the Social Support Agency was tabled by AKEL Secretary-General Stefanos Stefanou on behalf of the party’s MPs, and co-signed by DISY MP Kyriakos Hadjiyiannis and Volt MP Alexandra Attalidou.
Titled ‘The Independent Social Support Agency (Abolition) Law of 2026’, it provides for the abolition of the Agency and the transfer of its competences and assets to the Cyprus State Scholarship Foundation.
According to the text, the proposed law aims to regulate the disposal of the Agency’s assets so that they pass to the Scholarship Foundation, which could use them to support young people through education. This, it says, would strengthen the social impact of the Agency’s assets and serve the public interest.
Mr Stefanou stated that “the dissolution of the Agency will help avoid administrative overlap, promote good governance, transparency, accountability and the optimal use of public resources.”
Retention with changes
DISY’s bill was tabled by MP Nikos Georgiou and co-signed by independent socialist MP Kostis Efstathiou.
Entitled ‘The Independent Social Support Agency (Amending) Law of 2026’, its purpose is to amend the existing legislation in order to introduce safeguards that strengthen accountability and transparency in the Agency’s operations.
Specifically, it proposes that:
- The Agency may accept private monetary donations from natural or legal persons, provided that the total annual contributions from any single donor do not exceed €50,000.
- The chair of the Management Committee shall be a person of recognised standing and integrity – not the First Lady of the Republic.
- The Agency must keep a register of its resources, listing donors, amounts contributed and dates of payment.
- The Management Committee must publish on the Agency’s website a list of donors for the current year who contributed more than €500, including their names and the total amount donated – only with the donor’s prior written consent. If a donor does not agree to disclosure, the Agency must refuse the donation.
Safeguards
Speaking to Politis, Mr Georgiou said his bill establishes the necessary safeguards to strengthen accountability and transparency in the Fund, taking into account the findings of the Audit Office report of 4 November 2025.
The Audit Office found that contributions to a fund chaired by the President’s wife create a situation of “special relationship”, since donors are likely to have legal dealings with the state and their interests may be directly or indirectly affected by decisions of the Executive.