A former minister claimed on Tuesday that the current administration has ‘washed out’ archives on ministry websites, removing content relating to the actions and policies of previous governments.

Yiannis Karousos, who served as transport minister in the Disy government from December 2019 to February 2023, said in a statement that he personally noticed the missing content while browsing a number of ministry websites.

This also applied to the website of the Press and Information Office (PIO) which tracks and reports on government activities and press releases.

“In many cases, the available content begins from April 2023, and elsewhere one can find some content [relating to the prior period] but only fragmentary,” Karousos said.

“The result is that substantive announcements and policies agreed and promoted in the past, are no longer accessible to members of the public.”

Calling the matter “extremely serious,” Karousos said it “touches upon the core of institutional continuity, transparency and accountability of the state”.

He added: “Regardless of political alignment, the work of every government must remain recorded and be accessible to the public, ensuring both historical documentation and the credibility of institutions.”

Karousos said he’d like to believe that the issue is due to a technical error and not deliberate.

He has written to the director of the PIO and to the deputy minister for research, innovation and digital policy, asking for “the reinstatement of the relevant archives which from 2006 were being published on the websites of the ministries and the PIO”.