Quango boards to be announced Friday

The ruling Democratic Party (Diko) is expected to have the final say in the appointment of new boards of the various semi-government organisations, with little changes to the present boards expected to be announced after the Council of Ministers meeting on Friday.

The daily Alithia reported that Diko has shortlisted seven candidates for president of the Cyprus Tourism Organisation, with industrialist and veteran party member Panos Englezos as the frontrunner for the post.

A proposal by Commerce, Industry and Tourism Minister Antonis Michaelides to appoint professionals from the sector — such as Louis Cruises’ Marketing Director George Michaelides or travel expert Elena Tanou Ellinas of Top Kinisis — was rejected by the Diko central command.

Other candidates for the job are reported to be former Cyprus Airways vice president Achilleas Kyprianou, brother of the EU Health and Consumers Affairs Commissioner Markos Kyprianou, while another name is that of Andreas Petrondas, former Director of Commerce at the Ministry of Trade.

The situation at the other critical semi government organisation contested by Diko, the Cyprus Telecommunications Authority (CYTA), seems to have cleared with its present-day chairman, Stavros Kremmos, deciding to stay on after President Tassos Papadopoulos called on all quango bosses of the coalition to keep their chairs if they wished.

This will also make the completion of the controversial miVision and LTV deal easier, as it is the present board that devised and approved the plan, that is claimed will bring in additional revenues for the state coffers in time for President Papadopoulos to show a robust economy under his administration before he embarks on his own reelection campaign end of 2007.