Any decisions on a cabinet reshuffle will be announced once they have been made, President Nikos Christodoulides reiterated on Tuesday, clarifying any such move is a constitutional right.

“I have nothing to add, and I am aware of what has been written. They [media reports] said I would proceed to a restructuring both before I travelled to New York and after I returned,” he said.

In response to a journalist’s comment about rumours he is having difficulty finding candidates, Christodoulides replied, “there is absolutely no difficulty, and if anyone who claims I have approached people is identified, I call them to report it publicly.”

A different journalist said the parties that backed him for president have been urging Christodoulides to proceed with an immediate cabinet reshuffle.

“A reshuffle is the constitutional right of the president of the Republic, and when I make my decisions, they will be announced,” he said.

When asked about appointing commissioners, he said “regardless of what the press says, these appointments will be completed when the time is right.”

Rumours of a reshuffle began after the July wildfire that swept mountainous Limassol villages leaving two dead and homes destroyed, after which both comments by Agriculture Minister Maria Panayiotou and Justice Minister Marios Hartsiotis causing the public to raise eyebrows.

Panayiotou said, “the only way we could have prevented the fire was for it not to have started”, while Hartsiotis stated “we had absolutely no loss of life,” despite two people having perished in the flames.

In early September, Christodoulides again denied rumours of a reshuffle.