New cabinet announced, some familiar faces (Update 4)

By Nikolaos Prakas and Andria Kades

President-elect Nikos Christodoulides officially announced his new cabinet on Monday, after lengthy speculation and horse-trading over who would be given top posts in the next government.

The list released by the presidential palace Monday evening included some high-profile names such as well-known singer Michalis Hadjiyiannis as deputy minister of culture, along with former health minister Constantinos Ioannou who was given the portfolio of interior minister.

Hadjiyiannis is a famous pop singer in Greece and Cyprus, and he has won many awards in both countries and in Europe. He is also a member of the ‘Elpida’ foundation for children with cancer.

The role of finance minister went to Makis Keravnos who also served in the same role under Tassos Papadopoulos. Keravnos was also labour minister under Papadopoulos.

Ioannou, who will be the interior minister, was the health minister when the Covid-19 pandemic hit Cyprus and later quit to be replaced by Michalis Hadjipentala.

The names were announced later than expected on Monday. This was believed to be linked to a marathon meeting Christodoulides had with Diko leader Nicolas Papadopoulos, Depa leader Marios Garoyian and Edek leader Marinos Sizopoulos, the parties that backed him as an independent in the elections earlier this month. Politis reported early in the day that the meeting became tense at times over disagreements on the posts allotted to certain parties.

All three of the parties had in previous days asserted that their members would be allotted seats in the government, despite Christodoulides saying he would pick as he pleased only taking into account their opinions on appointments.

Speaking the day after the election, Constantinos Letymbiotis who has been part of Christodoulides’ campaign team and has now been made government spokesman, told the state broadcaster that the meetings with party leaders would be part of his efforts to find mutual satisfaction in the formation of government members.

“He will take their views into account though he is the final decision maker. Posts will not be handed out in the past like three positions to this party and four positions to that party.”

Beyond Hadjiyiannis, many names raised a few eyebrows as Christodoulides had pledged that his Cabinet would be made up of technocrats who had not served before – though the names include former ministers.

Although Christodoulides had stressed his Cabinet would be split fifty-fifty between men and women, the ministerial and deputy ministerial positions actually showed that more men have been appointed to these seats than women.

In total the ministers and deputy ministers added up to 11 men and six women, while out of the total list of published appointees – 25 – which included palace posts, undersecretaries and press staff, there were 14 men appointed and 11 women. Christodoulides appointed two female commissioners – for environment and gender equality –  who are not officially members of the cabinet but were included on the published list of 25.

The move did not go unnoticed by former foreign minister Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis who posted on social media that the fifty-fifty cabinet promises “was a pre-election ploy”. Of the 11 ‘real ministries’, only three are women, she added. She was excluding the deputy ministers from her calculations.

Christodoulides’ investiture ceremony will take place on Tuesday in parliament at 11:30am. He will first meet with House president Annita Demetriou, who will later be joined by President Nicos Anastasiades.

Christodoulides’ official presidency begins on March 1. It will also be the first Cabinet session with his new ministers.

The cabinet appointments were listed as:

Foreign minister: Constantinos Kombos

Finance minister: Makis Keravnos (former finance minister under Tassos Papadopoulos)

Interior minister: Constantinos Ioannou (former health minister)

Labour minister: Yiannis Panayiotou

Education minister: Athina Michaelidou

Health minister: Popi Kanari

Energy, Commerce, and Industry minister: Giorgos Papanastasiou

Transport minister: Alexis Vafeades

Agriculture minister: Petros Xenofontos

Defence minister: Michalis Giorgallas (former Solidarity movement MP)

Justice Minister: Anna Procopiou

Deputy tourism minister: Costas Koumis

Deputy welfare minister: Marilena Evangelou

Deputy shipping minister: Marina Hadjimanoli

Deputy culture minister: Michalis Hadjiyiannis

Deputy minister of research, innovation, and digital policy: Philippos Hadjizacharia

Government spokesman: Constantinos Letymbiotis

Deputy government spokesperson: Doxa Komodromou

Chief of the president’s office: Charalambos Charalambou

Undersecretary to the president: Irene Piki

Director of the president’s press office: Victoras Papadopoulos (former deputy government spokesman)

Head of the president’s diplomatic office: Marilena Raouna

Cabinet secretary: Penelope Papavasiliou

Gender equality commissioner: Josie Christodoulou

Environment commissioner: Maria Panayiotou

According to the constitution, ministers must be citizens of the Republic of Cyprus and has the qualifications required to stand for election as an MP.

This means that they must not have been convicted of an offence of disgrace or moral turpitude or have been disqualified from standing as a candidate by a decision of a competent court on account of any electoral offence. The person chosen must not be suffering from a mental illness that renders them incapable of performing the duties of a member of parliament, the relevant law states.

Moreover, ministers must be over 21 years of age according to a 2019 amendment which lowered the age limit from 25 to 21.

Ministerial office is incompatible with that of an MP or of a member of a community or municipal council, including the mayor, or with that of a member of armed forces or of security forces of the Republic, or with any other public or municipal office or position.

No academic qualifications are mentioned in the constitution.