Akel leader Stefanos Stefanou on Friday called for President Nikos Christodoulides’ to dismiss his chief of staff Charalambos Charalambous after a video alleging campaign finance lawbreaking on the part of Christodoulides, Charalambous and associates was widely shared on social media.

He said his party “calls for the immediate dismissal of [Charalambous] and his removal from the presidential office”, saying that this is “the minimum assumption of political responsibility on the part of the president”.

“The continuous presence of Charalambous would insult the institution of the presidency,” he said.

He also said the video “raises important political, ethical and other series issues concerning the president and his environment”.

“The president of the republic remains personally exposed. The issue is both personal, moral, and deeply political. [This is] an issue of institutional entanglement and corruption which is magnified by the manner and the content of the government’s reaction, which shows that it is of diminished moral stature,” he said.

As such, he called on the “competent institutions” to launch investigations into the matter.

“We call on the attorney-general [George Savvides], the anti-corruption authority, and the prosecution authorities to rise to the occasion and to demonstrate that they will objectively and decisively address the issues which arise,” he said.

He then called for light to be shed on a case which “has many ramifications and aspects, which in the best of cases asks many tormenting questions about the government and the ethics of its practices”.

Even if we accept that the video is malicious, that there is a hybrid war being carried out against the government and the Republic of Cyprus, the authenticity of what is being said is in no doubt, he said.

On this matter, he said that Charalambous is “shown describing practices for the privatisation of the government with business interests in exchange of services”, and that the video contains references to cash financing to circumvent the limit set by law on election campaign funding.

In addition to calling for Charalambous to be relieved of his duties, he called for the abolition of the social support body, a fund for students from disadvantaged backgrounds managed by First Lady Philippa Karsera Christodoulides.

He described the fund as “notorious” and said its responsibilities should be transferred to the Cyprus state scholarships foundation, after the video alleged that the fund was used to accept and conceal donations to Christodoulides.

“Finally, we call on the parties which support and participate in the government to take a clear position. Do they or do they not separate their position from the government practices which offend the political life of this country and our country itself? They will have to answer this unwavering question,” he said.

Meanwhile, Akel MP Irene Charalambides was damning in her view of the video and the government’s reaction to it.

“There is neither a hybrid war, nor a Turkish thumb on the scale, nor a Russian thumb on the scale. They are to blame. If they did not do it, due to corruption, if they did not give over the tools, there would have been nothing to record. It is their corruption which is to blame,” she wrote in a post on social media.

The video first appeared on social media platform X on Thursday, having been shared by an account using the handle “EmilyTanalyst” and the name “Emily Thompson”.

At the time the video was shared, the account had fewer than 350 followers, but this number has grown to more than 950 overnight, while the video has amassed more than 250,000 views.

It features close associates of Christodoulides, Charalambous, and former minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis appearing to explain how they used and intended to continue to use cash donations to circumvent election campaign finance laws.

The government has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.