The suitcase with the guards of the politicians goes far and despite the occasional reactions and often the challenge that the public faces, however the political will to show them was not shown. On the contrary, from time to time there is an increase, either because the leaders invoke security reasons, or due to a change of regime.
Today, 218 police officers guard from the first citizen to Mimi Kyprianou, and from the Archbishop to the ambassadors. With a budget of more than three million a year, the guards of political officials came to the surface again. Now, with the change of the Speaker of Parliament, the debate on the guards of former and current political officials has resumed, while very recently it seems that the guard of the secretary general has increased. of AKEL Andros Kyprianou by two. In view of the fact that parties that did not exist before, such as ELAM, entered the Parliament, new needs are being created, which is why it is a first-class opportunity for an existing evaluation.
Dimitris Christofias: 8
Andros Kyprianou (AKEL): 8
Averof Neophytou (DISY): 7
Nikolas Papadopoulos (DIKO): 6
Vassos Lyssaridis: 4
Marinos Sizopoulos (EDEK): 4
George Vassilios: 3
Attorney General: 3
Minister of Justice: 3
Archbishop: 2
Ministers: 2
S / C Negotiator: 2
Undersecretary to the President: 2
Government Representative: 2
Marios Karoyan: 2
Gianakis Omirou: 2
George Lillikas (Alliance): 2
Nikos Koutsou: 2
Solidarity: 2
Except for the 19 guards serving eight ambassadors, the rest are Cypriot politicians. Another 109 are in charge of guarding the Presidential Palace and the President of the Republic. Ten police officers are accompanying the Speaker of Parliament. Today, in addition to the above, the police have: President of DISY Averof Neophytou seven police officers, secretary general of AKEL Andros Kyprianou eight police officers, president of DIKO Nikolas Papadopoulos six guards, EDEK four, EUROKO two, accompanied by the president of the Citizens' Alliance George Lillikas two, and two for the former MP Nikos Koutsou. The president of the Ecologists, George Perdikis, does not have a guard, however he receives a special allowance. As for ELAM, which has now entered Parliament, a special proposal will be made after consultation with the Front.
Also, eight police officers are seconded to the guard of the former President of the Republic Dimitris Christofias and four others to protect the honorary president of EDEK Vassos Lyssaridis. Three guards are in the services of the former President of the Republic George Vassilios, while two police officers were given to Giannakis Omirou as former Speaker of Parliament. Alexis Galanos has one guard as former Speaker of Parliament and two guards Marios Karoyan also as former Speaker of Parliament. Mimi Kyprianou has a police officer. Archbishop Chrysostomos has two guards, those of the government representative, the deputy minister in front of the President and the negotiator of the Greek Cypriot side. Attorney General Costas Clerides has three guards.
As for the ministers, they all have two police officers to accompany them except the Minister of Justice who has three for obvious reasons.
From the list of those on guard it seems that for some the number is excessive, while for others there should not have been a single uniform. According to a police officer, if the real danger was assessed, then most of the guards would have to withdraw, since no one is in danger. Even in those cases where there was a danger in the past because threats were made against some people (Lyssaridis, Christofias), today it is over.
It increases instead of decreasing their number
Another element, which bothers the citizens and is sometimes expressed in various ways, is the exaggeration in some cases. If for reasons of appreciation or position there should be guards, then they should be few. From where and to what extent do some political leaders have six or seven or even eight police officers?
Particularly at a time when the police are suffering from shortages, it would be a challenge for 54 police officers to be in charge of guarding only 13 political leaders. What is required is an existing risk analysis for each party leader or former government official and where there is no justification for them to retire.
In a time of grocery and austerity, it is not appropriate to keep guards over political leaders for reasons of prestige, stressed those directly involved in the issue.
It is noteworthy that over time no guard was removed from anyone, on the contrary it was added.
It is reminded that now a study is being done for the security of the Parliament, without ruling out the possibility of increasing the guards from 16 to 20, in order to enable the operation of the machines that were installed there.
Presidential Guard with 109 police officers
In some cases, the President of the Republic moves with exaggeration. As mentioned above, the Presidential Guard lists 109 police officers, compared to 112 before. Most of them are in charge of guarding the Presidential Palace. However, recently in social appearances of the President, mainly at night, there was an increased presence of police officers, to a point that was commented negatively by the public. While in other cases (conversations, formal appearances in social groups) the guard is in a reasonable context, in others it is characterized by an excessive number, which is not justified.
Source: Liberal