A long to-do list for ministers at special Troodos meeting

Cabinet will hold an informal meeting at the Troodos presidential retreat where the ministers will present their goals and priorities to see how these can best be achieved.

The meeting on August 25 will be a “brainstorming” session, according to deputy minister to the president Irene Piki.

She said it will last about three hours during which time the cabinet will present their upcoming targets to be achieved.

“This is viewed as a good opportunity for the president to meet with the ministers and deputy ministers, outside the usual framework, to discuss goals and priorities, to see what we are aiming for in the upcoming period,” she added.

Piki stated that President Nikos Christodoulides had said during a press conference of his 100 days in office that the ministers would be called upon to present their priorities and what they aim to achieve in the next year.

“So, moving forward, we will see how we achieve the goals we have set because they have been set by the governance programme, and we will also see close cooperation between the ministries on many issues,” she added.

As for the government’s programme, Piki reiterated that the government work monitoring team – which she will head – is expected to be established within September.

The team, understood to be staffed by 12 members, has already been selected – “with this team, the monitoring of the government’s work will certainly be much more systematic than it has been so far”.

She explained that members of the team will serve for two to three years with the option to renew their post.

Piki added that progress is being made towards completing the code of ethics for cabinet members, which aligns with the recommendations of the Greco committee.

She explained that when ministers are appointed, they must sign a code of ethics, however, it is currently vague.

“The [updated] code of ethics will cover issues of conflict of interest, declaration of assets, and gift-related matters. It includes various new provisions – it exists in many countries and pertains to any behaviour of government members,” she said.

Piki said that cabinet will adopt the code and it will be binding for future governments, although upcoming governments will have the option to modify it.