Koushos to lead labour ministry (updated)

Kyriacos Koushos was on Monday named as labour minister following the death of Zeta Emilianidou earlier this month.

Koushos, who has most recently been serving as the president’s undersecretary, a post to which he was appointed in January, has also previously served as government spokesman.

Petros Demetriou will take over as undersecretary.

Koushos was government spokesman from December 2019 to July 2021. After a short break from the presidential palace, he returned in January – stating that: “Last July when I left the cabinet I didn’t expect to return and certainly not so soon… But there was no other option than to accept the opportunity to assist a friend of 45 years and serve the country.”

Koushos’ new role will be confirmed at a ceremony scheduled for June 27.

Koushos, who trained as a lawyer in Greece, has previously served as deputy of mayor of Strovolos, a board member of Hellenic Bank, and as a board member of public companies’ directors, among others.

He has big shoes to fill in light of the much applauded work carried out by Emilianidou, who served as labour minister since 2013.

Koushos also takes over the portfolio at a time of increasing concern over the global economy, amid fears that many Western nations may already be facing recessions.

Soaring inflation and the subsequent raising of interest rates are to be among key challenges facing economies as governments are set to grapple with major obstacles which threaten their spending policies.

That will place the labour ministry among the most impacted government posts as increasing demands from the public for assistance will come up against spending challenges.

Emilianidou, who suffered a cerebral aneurysm last month and subsequently passed away a few weeks later, was widely praised for her work as labour minister.

She was seen to be in touch with the needs of those she was tasked to help as the minister responsible for social welfare despite the challenges posed by government bureaucracy and the disruptive transition to digital systems that have seen delays in the payment of benefits, which she was quick to acknowledge.