Reshuffle of ‘cabinet’ announced in north

Turkish Cypriot ‘prime minister’ Faiz Sucuoglu on Monday announced the new ‘cabinet’, the nominees having got the nod from the north’s ‘president’ Ersin Tatar.

The announcement came shortly after a tete-a-tete between Sucuoglu and Tatar.

In the new ‘cabinet’ are Fikri Ataoglu as the ‘deputy prime minister’ who also retains his post of ‘minister for tourism, culture, youth and the environment’.

The new ‘cabinet’ is the result of a reshuffle.

Academic Erhan Arikli stays on as ‘minister for public works and transport’, and Tahsin Tahsin Ertugruloglu returns as the ‘foreign minister.’

Olgun Amcaoglu is the new ‘finance minister’; Unat Ustel remains the ‘interior minister’; Nazim Cavusoglu retains his post as ‘minister of education’; Kutlu Evren is ‘minister of the economy and energy’; Ali Pilli remains ‘minister of health’; Dursun Oguz stays on as ‘minister of agriculture and natural resources’; and Hasan Tatsoy is ‘minister of labour and social security’.

Under the procedure, the list of names on the ‘cabinet’ will be read out in the north’s ‘parliament’, followed by a vote of confidence in the ‘government’s’ programme.

The north’s ‘cabinet’ is chaired by the ‘Prime Minister’ and the ‘ministers’ head executive departments. The ‘President’ reserves the right to chair the cabinet, albeit without voting. The maximum number of ministries, as defined by the north’s ‘constitution’, is ten.