Palace on the defensive as Seychelles controversy escalates (Update 2)

In a further escalation of a bitter row over Cyprus’ golden passports, Diko and Akel on Friday accused President Nicos Anastasiades of not telling the whole truth about his holidays in the Seychelles, only to be told by the government spokesman that the president has nothing to hide.

Diko president Nicholas Papadopoulos fired the first salvo in the latest round when he suggested that revelations about Anastasiades’ Seychelles holidays indicate he had not told the whole truth to a committee of inquiry probing the citizenship-by-investment scheme and as such may have perjured himself.

Akel quickly followed with its own announcement, saying the Seychelles saga showed the president and the government not only lacked the will to address corruption, but were part of the problem.

Government spokesman Kyriakos Koushos countered that the president and the government wanted to build a climate of unity in view of developments on the Cyprus issue and the pandemic and would therefore not follow the road of increased toxicity sought by the two opposition parties in the run-up to the parliamentary elections.

Branding the two parties’ allegations as unfounded and unacceptable, Koushos said the president had from June 10 said that he is ready to answer any questionnaire from the House Watchdog Committee. No such questionnaire has been sent. “The President of the Republic has nothing to hide either from the House Watchdog committee or the committee of inquiry or from the people of Cyprus,” the spokesman added.

Earlier, Papadopoulos said he would suggest to the House Watchdog Committee that it write to the attorney general and the chairman of the inquiry panel, informing them of the situation so that they can decide what to do next.

Diko has been locked in a bitter row with the president over the now defunct passport scheme, saying he has refused to hand over the files requested by the auditor general because he feared transparency.

The row has recently homed in on the president’s relationship with a Saudi businessman who was granted Cyprus citizenship and whose airplane the president had used.

On Thursday civil aviation officials told the House Watchdog Committee that a flight under presidential designation to the Seychelles did take place in August 2015 but could not say whether the president himself was on board.

Director of the President’s Office Petros Demetriou and cabinet secretary Theodosis Tsiolas declined to say whether Anastasiades was on the Boeing 767-200 flight to and from the Seychelles and suggested MPs submit a question in writing.

Anastasiades has not denied travelling to the Seychelles on holiday in August 2015, but says it was a private flight which he paid out of his own pocket. He has also said he went on a family holiday to the Seychelles in 2018 and that in this case the aircraft belonged to the Saudi businessman who paid for the trip as a gesture but ‘not a gift’.

The second wife of the Saudi businessman was granted citizenship in August 2015, a case flagged both by the auditor general and the ad hoc committee looking into high-risk naturalisations as Cyprus law does not provide for the naturalisation of second spouses or polygamy.

In his statement on Friday Papadopoulos said the Seychelles saga leaves the president highly exposed.

He said a simple search shows that the Boeing 767 which flew the president in 2015 was operated by the same company that flew him for free in 2018.

“It is clear that Nicos Anastasiades did not tell the whole truth to the Nicolatos [CBI] committee of inquiry. He did not reveal, as he should have, that he had travelled a second time in 2015 to the Seychelles on the jet of the specific Saudi,” he said.

“If it emerges that the specific trip was offered for free or on favourable terms, then Nicos Anastasiades has committed perjury before the Nicolatos committee of inquiry, as he had claimed under oath that he had travelled to the Seychelles at his own cost,” Papadopoulos added.

Papadopoulos said the president must give an explanation within 24 hours and apologise to the people of Cyprus.

Akel also jumped into the fray, saying the presidential palace, the government and Disy were continuing to try to hide the truth regarding the president’s trips to the Seychelles.

It spoke of ‘gifts’ from the president’s Saudi friend and said the politically and ethically correct thing to do is for the president to accept responsibility rather than attempt to muddy the waters.

The way they were handling the issue only heightened the conviction among the public that there were other issues the government was avoiding talking about, and did not have the political will to address corruption but were actually part of the problem.

Meanwhile, police are due later on Friday to issue clarifications regarding statements attributed to the police chief that two members of the presidential guard had travelled with the president to the Seychelles in August 2015.