House committee ‘approves €590k budget for new presidential car’

The House finance committee on Monday approved the government’s request that €590,000 be allocated for the purchase of a new armoured presidential limousine, according to reports. Both newspaper Phileleftheros and business news website Stockwatch reported that the request had won the votes of MPs from Disy, Akel, Diko and Elam, with only Alma voting against, with the plans reportedly having been approved by cabinet in July. The committee session was held behind closed doors, with Akel MP Aristos Damianou saying afterwards that “no reasonable person disagrees with the need to protect the institution of the president of the republic”, and that therefore, “the need for an armoured car for the president of the republic is self-evident”. However, he added, “we therefore wonder why the president of the republic chose to expose himself irreparably, claiming that he was unaware of a decision made by his own cabinet, over which he presided on July 16”. Related Articles • Armoured limousine purchase currently merely a proposal • President denies knowledge of €595,000 armoured limousine “Obviously, the technical issues do not concern parliament, which deals with the substance … There is a necessity based on substance, but there is also an institutional issue, regarding the way the president chose to present himself to society. There was an attempt to undermine the intelligence of the electorate, saying that he did not know,” he said. President Nikos Christodoulides on Saturday denied all knowledge of plans to purchase a new armoured limousine, accusing someone in parliament of deliberately leaking the information in an attempt to damage him politically. “I was informed this morning by the press about this intention to make a purchase. I knew nothing about it,” Christodoulides told journalists. Elam MP Marios Pelekanos moved to defend the government, saying that “clarifications have been provided regarding the procedure followed, which essentially is the procedure which has been applied for many years”. “Therefore, we understood from what has been said in this case, as in the previous two times, that a specific procedure is being followed,” he said, before adding that the cost of the vehicle is “considered normal”. As such, he added, Elam is “in favour of approving the allocation of the funds”. Christodoulides was ‘like a raging bull’ Alma was, according to reports, the sole party that stood against the allocation of the funds, with party leader Odysseas Michaelides saying that “the most important issue that raised concerns is the stance of the president of the republic”. He said that President Nikos Christodoulides had, “like a raging bull, turned strongly against parliament, practically lying, saying that he was not aware that cabinet had decided to replace his vehicle”. “Today’s statements by [deputy government spokesman Yiannis Antoniou], stating that the president was allegedly referring to the technical specifications of the vehicle, simply reinforce the image that the government does not have even the slightest respect for the electorate’s intelligence,” he said. Regarding his decision to vote against the allocation of the funds, he said that “the techno-economic data, the maintenance costs of the existing car and the previous one which they use as a backup, in no way justify a replacement so early”. “The issue should be reviewed when the techno-economic data actually justifies replacing the vehicle,” he said. The vehicle has been in use since 2019, with the previous vehicle having been put into service in 2010. Elam asked that leak of document be reported to police Later in the day, Phileleftheros reported that Pelekanos has, on behalf of Elam, written to House President Annita Demetriou to request that an investigation be launched into how the document which detailed the planned purchase of the vehicle was leaked to the media. He also reportedly requested that the matter be reported to the police. The letter echoed the sentiments of Antoniou, who had told television channel Sigma that the fact that the information made it into the hands of the media is “problematic”. “We are not focusing on the case of the car itself, the limousine, but on the fat that classified documents sent to parliament are being made public. This in itself is problematic,” he said. Asked whether he knows who is responsible for the leak, he said that “the government’s job is to find the person responsible”, but pointed out that the document bears the seal of parliament. Earlier, he had stressed that the amount of €595,000 is the available fund, and not necessarily the final amount which will be paid for the vehicle. “This amount will not be spent in full. There will be a negotiation. There must be the available funds and the negotiation will take place so we can arrive at an amount,” he said.