MPs grumble over changes to wealth declaration law

MPs on Monday aired their discontent at a bill purporting to tighten up mandatory wealth declarations, saying the relevant law as it stands is robust enough. The matter came up at the House finance committee, where lawmakers were reviewing the 2027 budget of the Office of the Law Commissioner. The commissioner has been tasked with drafting amendments to the law governing wealth declarations – known in Greek as ‘pothen esches’, which literally means ‘where did you get it from’. In parliament, Law Commissioner Sophia Kleopa Hadjikyriakou said updating the law is a commitment made by the government to comply with the recommendations of Greco – the Council of Europe’s anti-corruption body. But MPs complained that the drive to change the law creates the impression that there is something amiss – namely that parliamentarians try to hide something when submitting their wealth declarations. Akel’s Andreas Pashourtidis asked what was the point of amending the legislation when, in his view, the system in Cyprus is “the strictest in Europe”. He recalled that, under current practice, the Tax Commissioner checks MPs’ wealth declarations – after parliament delegated these powers to him. Likewise, Alma MP Irini Charalambidou grumbled about recent media reports concerning the coming legislation. She said the impression is being given that the government wants to make the law “serious” – when it already is. Defending her position, the Law Commissioner said she was following government instructions, and that in any case MPs would have the opportunity to opine on the bill once it’s tabled. Under the law as it stands, individuals designated as Politically Exposed Persons – which include MPs and government officials – must submit a wealth declaration within four months of assuming office. Thereafter, they submit the declaration every three years while holding that office. And they must also file the declaration four months after they have left office. The amended bill makes the submissions more frequent – every 30 months after assuming office. In addition, the Tax Commissioner would impose administrative fines on those failing to file the declaration, or for filing it belatedly. The fine would come to €5,000, plus €100 for every day of ongoing non-compliance. A maximum of €50,000 could be imposed. The bill further expands the list of PEPs to include the four assistants to the police chief. The bickering over the updated legislation comes just days after the wealth declarations by 34 MPs – those obliged to file after being elected to the House of Representatives in May this year – were posted online but then immediately taken down. The declarations went up online on October 20, but were removed on the evening of the same day because the data included personal information about spouses and children. Phone numbers and vehicle registration numbers were included in the original post. This personal information was later redacted, and the declarations were uploaded again on October 21.