Newsroom
Cyprus is moving closer to buying a new armored limousine for President Nikos Christodoulides after Parliament approved the release of almost €600,000 for the vehicle.
DISY, DIKO, AKEL, ELAM and Direct Democracy supported the funding, leaving ALMA as the only party to vote against it.
Officials say the purchase was recommended after assessing the age, mileage, and condition of the vehicles currently used to transport the president and visiting foreign dignitaries. The existing presidential limousine dates from 2019 and has travelled more than 200,000 kilometres.
The cost has already caused plenty of political noise.
Christodoulides said he learned about the planned purchase from media reports and accused someone in Parliament of deliberately leaking the information to harm him politically.
He argued that presidents are not normally involved in the security details surrounding their official transport. However, the government later clarified that he meant he did not know the vehicle’s specifications and other details, rather than being completely unaware of the purchase.
DIKO MP Chrysis Pantelides described the president’s accusation against Parliament as hasty and misplaced. He noted that the letter concerning the limousine had also been sent to the Transport Ministry and the Department of Electrical and Mechanical Services, meaning several people had access to it.
With the funding now approved, the main parliamentary obstacle has been removed. Whether taxpayers consider nearly €600,000 reasonable for presidential security is another matter, and one that is unlikely to run out of fuel anytime soon.
