Govt bill to reform social support body

Rather than abolish the independent social support body, the government will bring a proposal to reform it, reports said on Tuesday.

The charity became embroiled in controversy after it was mentioned in a video clip released online claiming that business interests were making cash donations in exchange for access to the presidential palace.

Driven exclusively by private donations, the charity was initially set up in 2014 to offer financial assistance to disadvantaged students. It is chaired by the spouse of the president.

In the wake of the affair dubbed ‘Videogate’, first lady Philippa Karsera resigned her position.

President Nikos Christodoulides had initially indicated he was considering scrapping the charity.

However Politis reported that the president has since changed his mind – the government will now be tabling a bill amending the charity’s function.

This was confirmed to the daily by Irini Piki, the under-secretary to the president. She will attend Wednesday’s session of the House ethics committee, which will discuss the future of the charity.

MPs meanwhile have tabled two bills of their own on the same matter. The first, from Akel, proposes abolishing the charity and transferring its functions to the state scholarships foundation.

The second proposal, from Disy, would retain the charity in its present form but introduce changes to its operation beefing up transparency and accountability.

Earlier, MPs had tried to get the government to release the names of the donors as well as the amounts. But the state treasurer, citing a legal opinion from the attorney-general, declined.

In a report published last November, the Audit Office said the social support fund gives the impression of being a charity-for-influence scheme.

“There exists a relationship – or there appears to be a relationship – of influence and/or the expectation of benefit,” the auditor-general said at the time.

What the report flagged most of all was that a number of donors (companies and individuals) had some relationship or transactions with the state.

In 2023 – an election year – donations to the charity spiked to a tenfold increase on the previous year.