President Nikos Christodoulides on Monday said he is minded to “completely abolish” the social support body, after a video which was widely shared on social media last week linked it to alleged campaign finance violations by him and his associates, and after his wife, First Lady Philippa Karsera Christodoulides, resigned from its running on Sunday.
“I want to share with you that my first thought is to completely abolish the body. I hear some ideas to transfer it to the state scholarships foundation,” he told reporters.
Nonetheless, he remained on the defensive, adding that “again, some will find reasons to accuse me since I appoint, the government appoints, cabinet appoints, the chairperson of that organisation”, before turning his attention to the matter of the students from disadvantaged backgrounds whom the body was ostensibly created to help.
“Of course, we will find a way for the thousands of students in need who have benefitted. We are working on some tools as a government. I said before, the financial situation of the state, due to our responsible economic policies, does allow us to invest, to face such challenges, so we will not leave these thousands of students who have benefitted from the body out in the cold,” he said.
The first lady had resigned on Sunday, saying that she and her children had been “subjected to the spread of false news, defamatory comments, and allegations of wrongdoing”, and that her status as the wife of the president “does not justify or excuse such attacks”.
Her resignation came in light of a now infamous video being widely circulated on Thursday and Friday, with it being alleged in that video that donors to the fund are given favours by the government.
This assertion was rejected by presidential press office director Victor Papadopoulos, who rejected accusations that the fund is being run in a non-transparent manner.
“The social support body was created by a previous government and has been chaired by the first lady of the day on all occasions. There is nothing opaque in its operation,” he said.
The body was first established in 2014 and placed under the wing of then first lady Andri Anastasiades, before being passed on to Philippa Karsera Christodoulides when her husband became president in 2023.
The suggestion to transfer the body’s responsibilities to the state scholarships foundation was made by Akel leader Stefanos Stefanou on Friday, who had, following the video’s publishing, described the body as “notorious”.
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