After a great deal of squabbling, lawmakers on Thursday evening threw out a bill that sought to exempt the members of the Advisory Council from scrutiny of their personal assets.

The legislative proposal, tabled by Disy deputy Demetris Demetriou – who chairs the House ethics committee – was roundly defeated as 32 MPs voted against.

The Advisory Council, introduced under the current administration of Nikos Christodoulides, is a body that recommends names for certain positions in the broader public sector.

Under Demetriou’s proposal, the chairman and members of the council would be exempt from declaring their personal wealth – a filing known in Greek as ‘pothen esches’ (where did you get it from).

At the same time, the House plenary voted through an amendment to the law governing wealth declarations by state officials, adding to the list the members of the Tax Council who had not been included up until now.

In remarks on the House floor, Akel MP Andreas Pashiourtidis said the role of the Advisory Council is to act as a check-and-balance on the president’s appointments to the public sector.

As such, he noted, nothing should be done that might “leave traces of non-transparency” relating to the council’s operation.

In a similar vein, independent MP Alexandra Attalidou said the council has a big say in crucial areas wielding huge budgets – such as semi-governmental organisations. Its members should therefore be subject to scrutiny.

Akel’s Irini Charalambidou lambasted the government for not having already put in place a clear-cut and binding framework regulating the function of the Advisory Council.

And she recalled how parliament had earlier “fought a battle” to expand the list of state officials obligated to file their wealth declarations – such as the attorney-general and his deputy.

In the statement announcing the council in March 2023, the government said the establishment of the body “comes within the context of participatory democracy and reform of institutions”.