Parties supporting president caught off guard by intention to reshuffle cabinet

Political parties that supported President Nikos Christodoulides were completely caught off guard by his intention for a cabinet reshuffle, it emerged on Sunday, with all three saying they had no clue.

Parties Diko, Edek, and Depa, who had given approval for several of the current ministers, as is tradition, when a certain party has back the president, were all uninformed about Christodoulides’ intention to reshuffle the cabinet, sources told website Reporter on Sunday.

It also emerged that the three parties would be meeting with the president on Monday to Tuesday to discuss the matter of the reshuffle.

The party representatives that spoke to the website said that they learned about the president’s intention through the media.

Diko leader Nicholas Papadopoulos, Edek head Marinos Sizopoulos, and Depa leader Marios Garoyian, according to the report, were unaware the president was going for a reshuffle, despite having talked with the president recently.

According to information from the parties, the heads of the three parties had expressed concern over some ministerial choices in the past over the management of certain issues.

Despite this, the leaders of the parties were shocked by the news that circulated after the president’s new year interview, where he said there would be a reshuffle before his first 18-months in office were up.

The move had been seen as an effort to not allow certain ministers to receive the ministerial pension awarded after 18-months in the position of minister or deputy minister.

Since names of those scheduled to receive the axe had circulated, Deputy Minister of Research, Innovation, and Digital Policy Philippos Hadjizacharias resigned, ahead of getting the chop, as he had been one of four pegged to be fired.

The others were Deputy Tourism Minister Costas Koumis, Health Minister Popi Kanari, and Agriculture Minister Petros Xenophontos.