President of the Republic Nikos Christodoulides has reaffirmed the government’s “zero tolerance” approach to corruption, announcing that the Anti-Corruption Authority will now have a decisive advisory role in the selection of permanent staff.
Speaking at the opening of today’s Cabinet meeting at the Presidential Palace, the President referred to the Cabinet’s decision to proceed with the recruitment of permanent personnel for the Anti-Corruption Authority.
As he stated, “There is an issue related to our zero-tolerance approach to matters of corruption. It concerns the department headed by Alexis Vafeadis, who is absent today, and the initiatives he has undertaken regarding the Takata case. The matter is now before the Legal Service, which will take the appropriate decisions.”
He went on to explain that the decision being taken today relates to the Anti-Corruption Authority, recalling that in his first meeting with Mr. Pogiatzis after his election, “he raised the issue of administrative autonomy, operational independence, and financial independence of the Authority. Let me remind you that in 2024 we decided to increase the Authority’s budget by over 70%, precisely to support their efforts.”
“Today, however,” he said, “we are taking another significant new decision. This was a request raised with me. We made all the necessary preparations, and today we are granting the Authority a decisive role in the process of hiring permanent staff.”
He continued, “Until now, staffing mainly consisted of secondments from other public services. From now on, the Authority will have a critical advisory role in the selection of permanent staff, as part of our political commitment to strengthening the Authority’s administrative and operational independence, and in line with our zero-tolerance stance on corruption. This proposal was put forward by the Ministry of Justice and Public Order,” he concluded.
#ΥπουργικόΣυμβούλιο
— Προεδρία της ΚΔ (@CYpresidency) July 14, 2025
Σήμερα, κάνουμε ένα ακόμη πιο ουσιαστικό βήμα για την πάταξη της διαφθοράς.
🔹 Με πρόταση του @MinJusticeCY η Αρχή κατά της Διαφθοράς αποκτά καθοριστικό συμβουλευτικό ρόλο στις διαδικασίες πρόσληψης μόνιμου πλέον προσωπικού, ενισχύοντας την ανεξαρτησία και… pic.twitter.com/eKfsDuBnUP
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