Two bills tabled by House Speaker Annita Demetriou and MP Alexandra Attalidou, aiming to scrap the lifetime perks of former Presidents of the Republic and of the House of Representatives, remain stuck in Parliament’s drawers.
The Auditor General’s report on the Ministry of Finance earlier this week brought back into the spotlight the outrageous benefits enjoyed, under a 1988 law, by former Presidents of the Republic and the House of Representatives. The current list of beneficiaries includes five names: Nicos Anastasiades and George Vassiliou, as former Presidents of the Republic, and Yiannakis Omirou, Marios Garoyian, and Demetris Syllouris, as former Speakers of the House.
All five are entitled to a state limousine with all transport and maintenance costs covered, a police driver, bodyguards, and, since March 2024, a secretary’s allowance against receipts. Previously, this allowance was paid as a flat €3,000 per month. Following intervention by the Audit Office, the Finance Ministry now requires the submission of receipts—invoices by the five former Presidents. Driving duties are rotated among their police security officers.
These benefits are “locked in” after just 30 months in office and, scandalously, the law grants them for life.
With all due respect: we thank them for their service, but that does not mean we must carry them on our backs for as long as they live. After all, upon leaving office, the State already ensured their dignified livelihood with a lavish, tax-free lump sum of several hundred thousand euros, plus a monthly pension of around €5,000.
What must be done?
The discussion of the two pending bills should finally be completed and advanced to a vote. Submitted by House Speaker Annita Demetriou and MP Alexandra Attalidou, the bills would restrict the above benefits to just five years.
Specifically, the bills propose the following amendments to the current law:
Free use of a limousine to be granted only for the first five years after leaving office as President of the Republic or Speaker of the House.
The secretary allowance to be substantiated with proper documentation. It is also proposed that this allowance be paid directly by the Republic to the secretary employed, rather than through the former official, to prevent part of it from ending up in the ex-official’s pocket.
Regarding guards as part of a security team, the two bills provide for periodic reviews to asses necessity. At the very least, for the first five years during which former Presidents and Speakers will have access to state limousines, each should be entitled to two police officers to serve as drivers.
The only way to end the scandalous lifelong perks enjoyed by former Presidents of the Republic and the House is the passage of these two bills. Members of Parliament, pass them now.
Parliament must also examine whether the law, once passed, could apply retroactively to include the five current former Presidents of the Republic and the House of Representatives.
