Disy demands answers from foreign minister over Tornaritis appointment

Disy MP Nikos Georgiou tabled nine questions to Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos on the need for, and the process behind, the appointment of Nikos Tornaritis as special envoy for the Cyprus problem in Asia and Africa. Georgiou submitted the questions on September 22, six days after the cabinet approved the appointment. He asked what need led to the creation of the post when the Republic already has a foreign ministry and an established network of embassies. He also asked whether Kombos had been consulted and if so what he advised, how many other special envoys the president has appointed, and why the need for Asia and Africa was not identified in the government’s first year. Georgiou further asked for the proposal approved by the cabinet to be submitted to the House, since the government spokesman had spoken publicly about specific planning for the two continents. In its reply, the ministry said it was “important to inform Asian and African states about the Cyprus problem and Turkey’s moves”, drawing attention to the fact that many such nations belong to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. It cited Tornaritis’ 13 years as head of the Cypriot delegation to the Asian parliamentary assembly, where he became vice-president, and his term leading the delegation to the European council parliamentary assembly. The envoy will act in a complementary role, under the guidance of the foreign minister and without pay, it said. The appointment drew criticism inside Disy from the outset, with party vice-president Yiannis Karousos remarking that nobody should be “in the morning at the presidential palace and by noon at Pindarou (Disy headquarters)”. His criticism, he said, concerned officials with an institutional role in the party and not ordinary Disy voters who backed President Nikos Christodoulides. Tornaritis insisted he informed the party leadership the day after accepting the post and did not regard a role on the Cyprus problem as joining the government. An ardent supporter of the president, he said Disy should not rule out Christodoulides in its thinking for 2028.