President Nikos Christodoulides failed to claim in his capital statement (‘pothen esches’) an early pension he receives from the foreign ministry on top of his presidential salary, it emerged on Tuesday.
Although not illegal for a civil service employee to claim an early pension after being promoted to a government position, Christodoulides, unlike other ministers in his cabinet, failed to put in his ‘pothen esches’ that he has been receiving €1,300 a month as an early pension from his time at the foreign ministry, when he was a general consul.
Christodoulides has reportedly not been reporting that he has been receiving the pension since 2018, when he was made foreign minister in former president Nicos Anastasiades’ cabinet.
Another three government are also receiving this pension while serving in the government without declaring it in their ‘pothen esches’, a report in daily Politis said. They are the education minister, the agriculture minister, and the undersecretary to the president.
The reasoning for the non-declaration in their case was that they did not have time to declare the pension in the ‘pothen esches’ form before taking on their position in the government.
Another three ministers reported their pensions, as they had already been receiving the sum prior to being named in the current government. Finance Minister Makis Keravnos is getting €4,151 a month, while Health Minister Popi Kanari is getting €4,191, and Energy Minister George Papanastasiou is getting €1,654 a month.
As far as the law is concerned, the president, like other members of his cabinet, is entitled to receive the pension, but eyebrows were raised when it emerged that Christodoulides had not reported the pension since 2018, when he became a minister.
Christodoulides will also be entitled to an annual pension for holding the role of president.
With this pension and a presidential salary, Christodoulides currently receives €10,019 a month (€1,300 plus €8,719 salary).
In light of the disclosure, opposition Akel called on the presidential palace to answer questions raised about the issue of early pensions being paid and not being reported on the ‘pothen esches’ form.
“For two days now there have been reports that the President and other government officials receive a civil servant’s pension along with their salary,” the statement said.
Akel called on the president to respond to these reports claiming he has been receiving a pension for eight years, since the age of 45, without having declared it.
“The public, who are suffering under conditions of unprecedented inflation, wants to know if the president or other government officials receive both a pension and the remuneration arising from their office. This may not be illegal, but it is certainly provocative in the current circumstances,” the statement said.
Back in 2016, then Disy MP and party leader Averof Neophytou proposed a bill to change the way government officials are paid, with the proposal being that they receive their pension, but have the amount deducted from the salary associated with government post they held, effectively nullifying the payment.
He had also proposed a bill, which would see ministers and MPs not receive their pension for holding those positions until the age of 65, instead of the age of 60, which is currently in place.
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