The social support body: an object of controversy

References to the social support body in the video which alleged campaign finance lawbreaking on the part of President Nikos Christodoulides and his associates which was widely shared on social media were not the first time the institution has garnered controversy.

The body, a fund for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, was first established in 2014 and placed under the wing of then-first lady Andri Anastasiades, before being passed on to Philippa Karsera Christodoulides when her husband became president in 2023.

It came to the political fore the following year when MPs attempted to pass into law a bill which would have forced her to disclose the names of all its donors but were thwarted by the president, who vetoed the bill after it passed through parliament.

The current first lady had twice appeared at the House ethics committee to discuss the bill. In opposing the proposed disclosures, she argued that publicly disclosing the list of donors would in fact discourage some potential donors from participating.

Some MPs had on this point argued that donors, especially large corporations, would be more than glad to advertise their charity, while other critics had suggested that the fund could be abused as a vehicle for vote harvesting during election periods.

MPs then unanimously passed a law which would have forced all donors, individuals or corporations, which had donated €5,000 or more to be publicly named, with the stated purpose of boosting transparency.

Christodoulides’ subsequent veto of the law created significant blowback, with House ethics committee chairman and Disy MP Demetris Demetriou saying that the government had embarked on a “trend of limiting parliament’s sovereignty”.

He also said at the time that parliament had not received any record of donors to the fund since 2016, eight years ago, and described Christodoulides’ decision to veto the law as “sad and dangerous”.

“What [Christodoulides] says about transparency and accountability is not true and beyond belief. He wants to unnerve parliament. If they dream of a parliament which simply validates the executive, they can forget it. Parliament has a role and will carry it out to the fullest extent,” he said.

Akel MP Irene Charalambides said she was “surprised by the fact that the government and others cannot understand the problem and why parliament has legislated to solve it”.

“In the past, we experienced situations where contributions were made to the fund in exchange for golden passports. Transparency in this place, in every act which is carried out, whoever does it, is non-negotiable. Why should someone be ashamed that they gave more than €5,000 to the social support body?” she asked.

On the other hand, Marinos Mousiouttas, then an MP for Dipa and now the incumbent labour minister, said he “does not understand” why Christodoulides’ referring of the law to the Supreme Constitutional Court “is so disturbing”.

More recently, the audit office had in November argued that the fund and its donations “gave the impression of being a charity-for-influence scheme” and that the pattern of donations to it may suggest preferential treatment for donors.

However, accountant-general Andreas Antoniades, who acts as the fund’s treasurer, said the legal service and the Supreme Constitutional Court had both found “nothing to prove a special relationship” between donors and the government.

In the video which appeared on Thursday, it was alleged that donors to the fund are given favours by the government.

However, presidential press office director Victor Papadopoulos said on Friday rejected accusations that the fund is being run in a non-transparent manner.

“The social support body was created by a previous government and has been chaired by the first lady of the day on all occasions. There is nothing opaque in its operation,” he said.