THE government yesterday sought to play down its blunder of sending out an email to reporters with the names of the members of semi-state organisations accompanied with notes on their political affiliations and in some cases an evaluation of their ‘performance.’
The government on Thursday appointed the new board members whose names were released to the media late in the afternoon.
But in addition to this list, reporters were also sent the list of the previous boards with the attached remarks.
The apparent mistake prompted a storm of criticism yesterday, as the government tried to defend itself.
“Political practices and procedures are judged by the result and not by some rough notes that usually accompany them,” government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said in a written statement.
Beyond the political affiliation or beliefs of each member – for a couple there was just the word ‘cooperative’ -- the authors of the list included special remarks for some.
One was described as “very positive,” while another was deemed “negative.”
A member of another board ‘should go’ while another – apparently a member of AKEL – “didn’t show any interest for a long period and didn’t show up but when it was necessary he followed the party.”
Stefanou said the fact was that the large majority of the members of the old boards had been re-appointed.
“The boards include citizens from across the entire social and political spectrums of our country,” the spokesman said.
The main criterion was the readiness and potential to contribute, he added, rejecting suggestions that the board seats were filled by AKEL supporters.
“In fact, even these rough notes prove this,” Stefanou said. “People appearing to be unsupportive to the government have been reappointed, while others, who seem to be very friendly were not.”
The opposition however was having a field day.
“The government’s gaffe put AKEL’s dated mentality in the spotlight,” said DISY spokesman Haris Georgiades.
He added that the administration’s only preoccupation is to sort out their own and the complete control of the semi-state organisations by AKEL.
“While our country is going through the most difficult times and the economy is hanging by a thread they once more confirmed that they have other worries,” Georgiades said.
DIKO said the contents of the email were a political blunder that contradicted the principles of “political ethics.”
But the party spokesman also criticised the fact that the government had not consulted DIKO on any of the appointments but he did add that those were the exclusive right of the president and the cabinet.
Fotis Fotiou said the party was only represented with one member on the previous boards; now there were boards were DIKO was not represented at all, he said.
Thursday’s email blunder was not the first by this administration.
In June 2010, the secretary of AKEL leader Andros Kyprianou accidentally emailed the media his phone messages, which included details of a deal over who was being suggested for a senior public sector job.
Specifically, Michalis Pittadjis called to inform Kyprianou that the brother of AKEL MP Skevi Koukouma was put forward for the position of senior customs officer.
The man suggested that since Niki Hadjiyiannis – the wife of DIKO councillor Andreas Hadjiyiannis - also wanted the job and she would retire in 14 months to give her the opportunity and then afterwards “our man gets promoted”.