The confrontation between the Legal Service and Audit Office is an unfortunate and regrettable development, said President Nikos Christodoulidis today.
Speaking to reporters at an event of DIPA and asked to comment on the restart of “Amalthea,” the President said, “As I mentioned in the past few days, after the unfortunate event, the effort to send humanitarian aid to Gaza has resumed.
The needs are constantly increasing, and in collaboration with the countries with which we initiated this initiative, the UAE, the USA, and the EU, the mission has resumed. The completion of the work will also take place within the next week, which I believe will help us further strengthen the humanitarian aid mission.”
Responding to a journalist’s observation that there are questions about the government’s stance on the issue between the Legal Service and Audit Office, the President said, “Some seek, for their own reasons that do not concern me, to associate me with one side or the other. I am not associated in any way. Moreover, if I wanted or desired to do so, I could. This confrontation that exists is a very unfortunate and regrettable development. There is a clear separation of powers, and any decision of the court will be fully respected by me. I have nothing else to say on this specific matter. It is before the courts, and I will not say anything else.”
When asked what he would do if he himself were called by the Court, the President responded, “Who, me? Will I refuse if the court summons me? I, as the guardian of the Constitution, respect justice more than anyone else.”
In response to a journalist’s observation that the Auditor General states that “the so-called reform” to be carried out “aims at him,” the President said, “I will not comment on statements by anyone. Our intentions for the evolution of both the Legal and the Audit Service were made on January 29, 2024, before anything existed, and these are my pre-election statements that we are advancing, and we will proceed in the immediate future.”
In response to a journalist’s observation that AKEL accuses him of being deliberately neutral on the issue of the Legal Service and Audit Office, calling on him to intervene, the President said, “If this could have been avoided, it would have been the most positive development for me. The fact that it was not avoided means that those who decided to proceed wanted to proceed. Things are simply that way.”
