Auditor-general Andreas Papaconstantinou on Thursday continued pushing back at government legislation which has the stated aim of introducing reforms to the Audit Office, saying the proposals would end up “paralysing” the agency rather than improving it.

Speaking to the public broadcaster, Papaconstantinou clarified he has no trouble with certain aspects of the proposed legislation – such as imposing term limits on the auditor-general and the deputy auditor-general.

His concerns, rather, relate to the proposed establishment of an audit board which would keep an eye on the Audit Office.

Although the government, via the justice minister, insists this board won’t exercise administrative oversight on the Audit Office, Papaconstantinou said the devil is in the details.

The government says that the audit board would merely submit ‘recommendations’ for reports issued by the Audit Office.

But Papaconstantinou smells a rat.

“Will we now put three persons on the payroll just to make suggestions?” he asked, alluding to the proposed audit board.

“I have to tell you, for example, that recently I told the agency [the Audit Office] to give me recommendations. They came back with 196 recommendations. On top of that, whenever we go to parliament, MPs make their own recommendations. And then, members of the public file either suggestions or complaints.

“I wish we were able to keep up with even one-fifth of these suggestions.”

The chief auditor was arguing that the Audit Office would become swamped with work and red tape, effectively paralysing it.

Papaconstantinou said the Audit Office consists of 140 personnel, all qualified auditors.

“With all due respect, this is not serious,” he said of the government bill.

“As an independent agency, the Audit Office is there to check the executive branch of government. Now we will have the executive appoint another panel [meaning the audit board] that will check the Audit Office. Were we to tell this to people in other countries, we’d become a laughing stock.”

Amid the brewing dispute, Justice Minister Marios Hartsiotis also took to the airwaves to give the government’s side of the story.

The minister spoke of misconceptions about the status of the proposed audit board. He said the body would not be appointed by the president, but rather by the cabinet. And in doing so, the cabinet would act on the recommendation of an advisory council.

However, this setup still means it is the executive that would appoint the audit board.

Papaconstantinou, meanwhile, appeared to be seeking a one-on-one meeting with President Nikos Christodoulides.

He said that when previously he had spoken with the president about the financial autonomy of the Audit Office, the two of them needed “just three minutes to come to an understanding”.

The auditor-general said he tried to speak with Christodoulides again more recently, but a meeting was not possible because of the president’s busy schedule.

“Had I spoken directly with the president, I believe this bill would never have made it to parliament,” he asserted.