Two of four advisors to the president and ministers who were dismissed due to a change in the law are taking the matter to court, it was reported on Sunday, believing they have been grossly wronged both professionally and morally.
They say professionally because they had many years of service and morally because they had received many promises – even from the president himself – that they would be exempted.
The new regulations were passed in February and include that the positions last only as long as that of the president or minister and that the advisors must be at least 21 and have a degree.
According to Politis, the two advisors were employed by the president and by the deputy minister of shipping and do not have a degree recognised by the Republic of Cyprus.
They are among four, again employed by the president and the same deputy ministry, who were highlighted by the auditor-general as being illegally appointed.
He called for their immediate dismissal, leaving no room for inclusion in the law of a transitional provision.
Issues about advisors first came up last year when it transpired that a 19-year-old had been given a position at the deputy tourism ministry, and an advisor to the First Lady was found to be an aesthetician by trade, while yet another was found to have a criminal record.
The two dismissed women argue that when the contracts with the president and deputy minister were signed there was no legislation, and therefore no illegality.
The advisor employed by the president had almost 12 years of service before she was dismissed. Her contract said it would expire with the end of the president’s term of office, but it was terminated a year later.
She is now claiming compensation for salaries she would have received if her contract had not been terminated, in other words for the remainder of President Nikos Christodoulides’ term.
The advisor to the shipping minister had six years experience and is seeking compensation for the damage she has suffered for loss of her job despite signing a contract.
After the law was passed Christodoulides said he would follow what happened for parliamentary advisors, that those without a degree but who had been working for many years would have a transitional status while he would apply the auditor-general’s recommendations.
But in private, the two women claim, Christodoulides assured them a way would be found for them to continue working in their posts or he would arrange for them to be employed elsewhere.
