‘I do not need lifetime state benefits’ – House president (Update 2)

House speaker Annita Demetriou said on Wednesday that lifetime benefits for the president and the House speaker need to be abolished.

“I have the personal opinion that these lifetime benefits should be abolished, and all regulations should be placed in a different, transparent and rational framework,” she told the House ethics committee on a draft bill that would abolish some of them.

She added that this is a practice still in place today, and that it needs to be “drastically reviewed”.

Commenting on some of the specifics of what the committee is examining, she said that lifetime provision of a state vehicle for the president and the House speaker also needs to be abolished.

“I personally do not accept it,” she said.

About security officers past state officials have as a lifetime benefit, Demetriou said officers should only be granted as approved by the police and that the need for officers should be re-evaluated every five years.

She also said that a secretarial allowance, which is currently granted, needs to be given under more transparent terms, especially in reference to the work conducted and the payment of fees.

“Among other things, the purpose [of the secretary] should be to record and classify the records and activities of the former officer’s term of office, with delivery of the result to the state archives, and to maintain international relations and contacts beneficial to Cyprus,” she said.

She added that the criteria she mentioned that should be included in the bill, should apply to all former, current and future senior state officials.

Demetriou added that she also intends to submit a similar bill to the one being discussed at the house ethics committee, which had been proposed by independent MP Alexandra Attalides.

According to the bill, a limit of five years should be applied for the use of drivers and secretaries for former presidents and House speakers.

At the same time, the draft bill provides for the evaluation of security measures from time to time to determine whether the provision of security guards is justified.

In the bill, Attalides proposed that the benefits for the ownership and use of a limousine, as well as the payment of the private secretary’s allowance be provided only during the first five years after leaving the office of the president or House speaker.

For the employment of a private secretary, it is provided that the salary shall be fixed at the A2-A5-A7 pay scale instead of the first-class stenographer provided for in the existing law.

In this way, the amount of the contested allowance, which currently stands at €3000 per month, is significantly reduced. The proposed law also provides that this allowance shall be paid directly by the state to the secretary employed and not through the former official.

There are cases of beneficiaries who do not employ a secretary and pocket the full amount, while there are cases where the official pays the secretary less than €3000 a month, allowing them to pocket the difference.

The bill for benefits for former presidents and House speakers was introduced in March 1988.

Today, these benefits are enjoyed for life as former president Nicos Anastasiades and George Vassiliou and former House speakers Yiannakis Omirou, Marios Garoyan and Demetris Syllouris.

Speaking at the committee session, auditor-general Odysseas Michaelides said that the budget in 2023 was €39,089 per official for the employment of a secretary.

He added that since 2004, from when he has data, the allocation received by former president George Vassiliou to date amounts to €709,000, former House speaker from 2011 to date Marios Garoyan received €364,000, from 2016 Yiannakis Omirou €279,000, former House speaker Demetris Syllouris €64,000 from 2021, and former president Nicos Anastasiades €20,000 to date.

He said that the pension of a former president amounts to €8,000 per month, and therefore “he is not a person without means to buy with his own vehicle”.

Michaelides added that there is also a loophole in the current law that needs to be fixed, as police can decide to give private cars to individuals that need protection.

This, he added, means that the police could continue to allow former state officials vehicles even after the law is passed to limit benefits.

Currently, anyone who serves in either of the positions for more than 30 months can receive benefits.

The cost borne by the state to cover the benefits of these five amounts to approximately €700,000 per year and includes the payment of the secretarial allowance, the costs of driving and maintaining the state limousines, and the salaries of the police guards-drivers.

An investigation by the audit office into the costs incurred by the state in granting the benefits in question to the former officials is currently underway.

The investigation was requested in a letter by Attalides in view of the debate at the House ethics committee.