Auditor General Odysseas Michaelides slammed the Anastasiades government over its decision to withdraw the state guarantees for the support of businesses bill from parliament, as the opposition claimed this was due to a proposal that his office monitors its implementation.
‘Τhey tried to cover up for the minister to prevent any wrondoing accusations’, the Auditor General’s Office said in a statement.
Responding to an interview by President Anastasiades on Alpha TV, the Auditor General Office notes that in countries like Cyprus, where accountability mechanisms are inadequate, with the latest example being the collapse of the cooperative system, ‘checks in real time, recognized since 1997, become even more significant’.
Michaelides presents the argument that the government had made certain that in its final amendment of the bill, accountability became almost impossible, with provisions keeping both the minister and the members of the Monitoring Committee members, safe from any wrongdoing or omissions accusations, a ‘civil cover up’, as he called it.
The Auditor General points out that even in the distant case where the minister or any of the members were called to pay compensation for any wrongdoing, this would be paid by the state, by extension, the citizens, through taxes.
It is noted that from 1997 onwards, the Auditor General’s Office takes part as an observer in the public sector tendering process, checking on changes and demands during the implementation of the contracts’. The legality of the AG’s participation, it’s added, has been confirmed by a number of court decisions.
‘We are committed to the constant upgrading of the services we provide for the public interest’, a statement says.
