President denies rumours of cabinet reshuffle

President Nikos Christodoulides on Monday denied rumours about a cabinet reshuffle, following a report that it could be coming as some ministers have been in their positions since the beginning of his presidency.

Speaking on the sidelines of a visit to Cyprus’ University of Technology (Tepak), Christodoulides said: “I don’t have anything in mind regarding a reshuffle.”

The president said that he didn’t know where an article in daily Politis about the mooted reshuffle got its information.

Politis had suggested that some of the ministers had been with the president for 18-months now, and quite possibly Labour Minister Yiannis Panayiotou might be due for a change.

The article said, Panayiotou is a “government member who, although consistently in the high positions of public approval, nevertheless does not seem to have established channels of communication with key social partners. This is a negative fact”.

Christodoulides also commented on Deputy Tourism Minister Costas Koumis, who has been criticised heavily recently by opposition parties for causing a crisis in agreements between Cyprus and tour company Tui.

“My relationship with all ministers is that of a partner. We have open discussions; we listen to opinions, and we are partners. We have nothing to hide,” Christodoulides said.

Koumis told a closed House committee session last week that his ministry had recently given an opinion to Tui about their daytrips to the north without consulting the presidential palace first.

Essentially, Tui’s representative in Cyprus had sent a question to the deputy ministry about tours in the north, and received an answer back that they would not continue.

This sparked harsh criticism in parliament, with opposition parties saying the tours have been happening since as far back as 2008 and were part of the Green Line Regulation.

Government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis has previously stated that the government did not request Tui to cancel tours to the north.