Opposition party Disy, accused the government of misleading the public over what it described as politically motivated appointments to semi-governmental organisations, saying it had been “caught red-handed” claiming the selections were merit-based.

In a statement, issued late on Sunday, responding to Government Spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis, Disy spokesman Onoufrios Koullas said the party would continue to respond whenever challenged by the government.

“We understand the difficult position the government finds itself in after being caught red-handed misleading citizens into believing it made merit-based appointments,” Koullas said.

He also took aim at President Nikos Christodoulides, referring to the president’s recent criticism of past appointment practices.

“The President should not forget that if there was a ‘party’, as he described it, then he himself participated in it without objection for an entire decade,” Koullas said.

Disy argued that the government had appointed party officials and associates of the president, “some through the back door”, and rejected the suggestion that the appointments resulted from an objective evaluation process.

The party said the issue was not ideological but one of political culture and accountability.

“Disy knows what it stands for. But what does our centre-right direction have to do with the deception, favouritism and expediency of the Presidential Palace?” Koullas said.

He added that the government had failed to provide convincing answers to the criticism, concluding sarcastically: “Do they expect us to congratulate them?”

On Saturday 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.

Government Spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis drew attention to the similarity between statements issued by both DISY and AKEL on the matter, referring to their shared arguments and what he called “impressive synchronisation”. According to Letymbiotis, the reactions of both parties effectively confirm the government’s assertion that the leaderships of DISY and AKEL have become politically aligned.

Turning to the substance of the dispute over appointments, Letymbiotis challenged Disy to clarify its position on the government’s Advisory Council for appointments.

He questioned whether Disy considered the establishment of the council to be a positive and useful institutional reform, noting that the party had initially criticised the body when the government announced its creation but was now invoking it in its criticism of the appointments process.

“Today it invokes it almost as a guardian of meritocracy. We are genuinely pleased with the progress,” he said, adding that the government was now waiting for Disy to publicly welcome the council’s creation.

Letymbiotis also called on the opposition party to present its own proposed model for selecting people to serve on semi-governmental boards.

The dispute began after Christodoulides defended the new appointments on Saturday, telling reporters in Paralimni that the old practice of parties dividing up semi-state positions had ended.

“The party is over,” he said, arguing that the Advisory Council had put an end to a system under which parties divided appointments among themselves.

Christodoulides said around 80 per cent of appointees had been selected on the basis of the council’s recommendations, including people without party affiliations who would previously have had little prospect of being appointed.