New faces are expected in the Nicos Anastasiades administration after he appointed his Justice Minister to become attorney general and the Defence Minister as his deputy.
With Energy Minister George Lakkotrypis also signalling his intention to stand down next month, the cabinet will undergo a mini-reshuffle in the coming days and weeks.
In a brief statement, it was announced that Justice Minister George Savvides, will be appointed attorney general after a short tenure of 13 months in the job.
Unexpectedly, Defence Minister Savvas Angelides has been given the nod as deputy attorney general.
Both Savvides and Angelides are lawyers by profession.
The term of current attorney-general Costas Clerides is due to expire.
They will be sworn on 10 July, but their successors in the cabinet have yet to be announced.
Former Justice Minister Ionas Nicolaou had been offered the top legal job, but he declined after objections were raised about his suitability for the post by opposition parties.
“The President wishes to express his gratitude to the former Minister of Justice who, taking into account the completely unsubstantiated and unjustified objections expressed by opposition parties did not accept the proposal to preserve the prestige of this institution,” said the statement by government spokesman Kyriakos Koushos.
Details of the reshuffle that will follow, as well as the dates for confirming and taking over the duties of the new officials, will be announced within the current week.
Nicolaou resigned in May 2019 in the wake of criticism that police bungled investigating a serial killer, and Savvides was his replacement.
Lakkotrypis, one of only three ministers to serve in the first and second Anastasiades cabinet, will be tendering his resignation soon.
News reports said that Lakkotrypis had been tipped to leave the cabinet in the last reshuffle, but the president asked him to stay because of ongoing talks with energy giants ExxonMobil, Total and Eni for further exploration in Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone.
The President has also appointed Stelios Papatheodorou as the new police chief and Christos Mavris as his deputy.
They will assume their duties on July 1.
