President Nikos Christodoulides appointed Andreas Papaconstantinou as the new auditor-general on Tuesday morning in a move that was described as averting a crisis, replacing Odysseas Michaelides who was removed from office last week.

“With a heavy sense of responsibility towards its citizens, the deputy auditor-general and audit office staff look forward to a cordial cooperation and declare their readiness to continue the important work of the audit office,” deputy Auditor-General Kyriacos Kyriacou said

Papaconstantinou will officially be sworn in on October 2 at a ceremony at the presidential palace.

The announcement of his appointment came at the at the crack of dawn Cyprus time while Christodoulides was in New York, after a tumultuous few days on the home front.

Papaconstantinou was appointed after Michaelides was fired on Wednesday following a Supreme Constitutional Court decision, which ruled he was unfit for duty citing inappropriate conduct.

Michaelides was the first to congratulate Papaconstantinou on X. “Congratulations to the new auditor-general,” Michaelides said. “He is taking on a challenging role. The staff is excellent and can help him succeed in his task.

“I wish him every success for the good of the country.”

The presidency said Papaconstantinou’s experience and qualifications as a certified auditor and certified internal auditor, both in the private and the wider public sector, “are a guarantee for his performance for the important tasks assigned to him.

“The role, the work and the institution of the Audit Office is of extreme importance in safeguarding transparency, public accountability, fighting corruption and defending good administration,” it said.

The presidency added that Papaconstantinou takes on the role at a time when he will be called upon to support and contribute substantially to the “upgrading of the Audit Office” through the reforms put forward by Christodoulides.

It includes the establishment of a Council within the office, a clause long fought back by the audit office under Michaelides’ leadership which described it as an attempt to stifle its reports.

Since 2006, Papaconstantinou had been working at the Health Insurance Organisation (HIO), and in May 2024 a Cabinet decision saw him appointed as its director general.

Prior to that, he had worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) and the Cyprus Stock Exchange.

Papaconstantinou holds a BA in Accounting, Finance and Economics, a Masters in Business Administration and a BA in Pastoral and Social Theology.

The uproar that followed Michaelides’ dismissal and his possible replacement was described by deputy government spokesman Yiannis Antoniou on Tuesday as a crisis.

“The government believes that with the President’s decision to proceed with the appointment, the crisis that broke out without reason has come to an end,” he told CyBC.

After a protest outside the presidential palace on Sunday saw thousands show their support for Michaelides, Diko MP Zacharias Koulias prompted chaos when he announced he would appoint an auditor-general of his choosing come Wednesday when he would be acting President of the Republic.

As the oldest members of the House of Representatives, Koulias would be acting president if both Christodouldies and House President Annita Demetriou were out of the country.

Demetriou brought Koulias’ plans to an abrupt halt though when she announced she cancelled her trip to avert the crisis.

Antoniou said the entire debate crossed the limits of a responsible stance, describing Koulias’ statements as “borderline outrageous, that created a crisis out of nothing.”

The spokesman also told Ant1 that Michaelides raised the bar during his term in office. “We recognise that and credit him with that,” irrespective of what was said in court.

Antoniou added that Christodoulides had attempted to find a compromise to prevent “things reaching this point” but things unfolded in a way where there was no turning back.