‘A wise man holds his tongue’ former auditor-general tells president

Former Auditor-General Odysseas Michaelides lashed out at President Nikos Christodoulides on Saturday, saying he was “not telling the truth” about developments leading up to his dismissal from the Audit Office.

“A wise man holds his tongue, Mr Christodoulides,” the former officer said.

In a statement following Christodoulides’ remarks in an interview with CyBC on Thursday, Michaelides said “everyone knows I was persona non grata for him [president] and his associates, due to the work of the Audit Office.”

Michaelides said proof of this was “the undeniable fact that he did nothing to stop my revengeful dismissal.”

He added that it was “hypocritical” on behalf of the president “to praise my work, when during the appointment of my successor he even forgot my name.

“Contrary to what has been claimed in retrospect, the truth is that Nikos Christodoulides along with Nicos Anastasiades and the two prosecutors promoted and implemented my impeachment as auditor general,” Michaelides said.

Michaelides added that the president “continues to persecute me, even if he is hiding behind the attorney general again regarding my pension rights.”

“Any other allegation constitutes an effort to disorientate public opinion,” he said.

Commenting on other remarks in the president’s interview, Michaelides said that “while he was foreign minister, we never met tête-à-tête outside his workplace” and “I never called him on the telephone for the issue concerning the armaments of the police given to private individuals.”

Michaelides said “he himself contacted me many times as president of the Republic to complain about social media posts by my adult son, the investigation of the Audit Office into benefits he was illegally receiving and continues to withhold and for public expense renovation works on the presidential residence at the presidential palace.

“As regards keeping up the lie that I allegedly insisted on entering the bedroom the state provides for free, I refer to the detailed record of the true facts in the announcement of the Audit Office dated November 30, 2023,” according to which the president “insisted on my presence instead of just my colleagues,” Michaelides said.

Addressing Christodoulides, the former auditor general said “the people did not elect him for his communication skills, but to crack down on the system of entanglement and corruption, to sort out public administration, to support society through its ordeal and to contribute to the creation of a modern rule of law.

“The opposite, in other words, of what he is doing,” Michaelides said.