The government defended the role of the advisory council on Saturday as criticism continued over the appointment of boards to semi government organisations, with deputy government spokesman Yiannis Antoniou describing attacks on the body as “unfair”.

Antoniou said the council was created as part of a new system intended to improve transparency and merit in public appointments, while acknowledging that the system had “problems” and “weaknesses”.

Speaking on CyBC, he said the government was nevertheless no longer operating under the previous system, when appointments were based primarily on “the party origin of each person”.

“Criticism is unfair,” Antoniou said, arguing that the new process sought to give people from across the political spectrum the opportunity to serve.

His comments came after Akel accused the advisory council of being bypassed in the appointment of members to semi-government boards and called for the process to be explained publicly.

The issue has been registered with the House institutions committee following claims that some individuals appointed to boards had not even submitted applications to the advisory council.

Committee chairman and Disy MP Demetris Demetriou said the matter concerned “the issue that arose at Cyta and the information regarding appointments of individuals without applying”.

Akel has claimed that, if confirmed, such appointments would mean the council had been “completely annulled” and used as an “alibi” for predetermined appointments.

The party called on President Nikos Christodoulides and council members to explain how the appointments were made.

The controversy intensified after the government agreed to replace a newly appointed Cyta board member – Loizos Economides – following concerns over a possible conflict of interest.

Economides is a retired senior Cyta executive whose wife remains employed by the organisation.

The company worker’s union (Aset) also said he serves on the management committee of the staff pension and benefits fund and had been vice president of the staff union and a member of its negotiating team when he applied for the board.

Antoniou said the relationship with Cyta had not been declared during the appointment process and that the omission created a potential conflict of interest.

He said the decision to replace Economides had been taken “in the spirit of good governance”.

Aset had described the appointment as “a blatant case of conflict of interest and institutional incompatibility” and questioned whether the advisory council had properly examined the matter before making its recommendation.

George Aresti, chairman of the advisory council, also rejected criticism of the body, saying its role was indeed “purely advisory”.

He said the council made recommendations to the relevant ministries but did not make the appointments and had no involvement in the final decisions.

The cabinet appointed around 85 members to the boards of 11 semi state organisations and public bodies on Thursday, including the EAC, Cyta, CyBC, Thok, the University of Cyprus and Tepak.

Pavlos Pavlou was appointed chairman of CyBC, Maria Tsiakka was reappointed as Cyta chairwoman and Loizos Loizou was appointed chairman of the EAC.