PASYDY General Secretariat convenes urgently, will review the suspension of the Deputy Ministry of Tourism's Director General

• President of the Civil Service Directors Branch Union also present at the meeting

• The Neofytos Papadopoulos case touches upon the dignity of civil servants

• Civil Servants: "Is anyone who disagrees with their political supervisor to be suspended?"

The General Secretariat of PASYDY is called upon today to make one of its most serious decisions in recent years, one that is entirely unrelated to the salary demands of its members.

It is, however, completely related to the professional dignity of civil servants, and the authority of the terms of reference established by laws, regulations, and their schemes of service.

The members of the Public Service Commission (PSC), utilizing express procedures and after reading a multi-page objection filled with complex legal points submitted by Chris Triantafyllides, attorney for Mr. Papadopoulos, issued a decision within two hours (!!!) and placed Neofytos Papadopoulos, Director General of the Deputy Ministry of Tourism, on suspension for three months. Simultaneously, the PSC decided to cut his salary by 50% for the duration of his suspension.

According to information obtained by Brief, PASYDY had warned the PSC to thoroughly examine the matter before making any final decision.

Additionally, it had pointed out that they should refrain from cutting his earnings, or at least ensure that the decision would not be "destructive" for him and, primarily, for the ongoing financial needs of his family.

On the contrary, despite PASYDY's behind-the-scenes indications and the objection from Mr. Papadopoulos' lawyer, the appointed "independent" members of the PSC completely ignored them.

Chris Triantafyllides, in a social media post, reminded the PSC of the case of Yiannis Nikolaides, former Director General of the Ministry of Transport and current DG of the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare, who remains on duty despite the fact that an investigation regarding defective TAKATA airbags is pending against him.

It is noted that the disciplinary investigation against Mr. Nikolaides has not been completed.

PASYDY, through its General Secretary Stratis Matthaiou, is expected to send a letter today to the President of the PSC expressing the organization's dissatisfaction with the halving of Mr. Papadopoulos' earnings, requesting either its cancellation or reduction.

During today's extraordinary meeting of the General Secretariat of PASYDY, all available facts regarding the head-on collision between the Deputy Minister of Tourism and the Director General are expected to be put on the table. This includes the background, the disagreements that broke the camel's back, the reasons for the disciplinary probe, the allegations by Koumis, and the corresponding counter-claims by Neofytos Papadopoulos.

K. Koumis, prior to taking over the portfolio of the Deputy Ministry of Tourism, was a member of the PSC.

Brief had revealed last Friday that turmoil is brewing within the ranks of the public sector directors' branch union, triggered both by the Deputy Minister of Tourism's behavior toward its member and by the PSC's crushing decision to proceed with a 50% cut to Mr. Papadopoulos' salary.

Civil servants who spoke to Brief questioned whether "an employee or director who disagrees with their political supervisor will now be suspended?".

The head-on collision between the Deputy Minister of Tourism and the Director General erupted in early March, when Mr. Papadopoulos reportedly refused to publish "illegal sponsorship schemes" in the official gazette.

Costas Koumis insisted on the publication of the schemes, pointing out that they were legal and constituted a government decision.

However, Mr. Papadopoulos stood firm on his initial decision, maintaining that these were "illegal schemes."

Information indicates that the Accountant General of the Republic, who had been called upon to express an opinion, had sided with the position and decision of N. Papadopoulos.

Furthermore, intense disagreements had arisen between the two regarding the approach and philosophy of managing the geopolitical crisis and its impact on the tourism industry.

Specifically, in March, the Director General unreservedly backed the assessments and recommendations of the Deputy Ministry of Tourism's technocrats, who, it is worth noting, were the same technocrats who alongside Savvas Perdios, the former Deputy Minister, managed two unprecedented crises: the health pandemic and the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Brief's information indicates that K. Koumis held entirely opposing views to the studies of his technocrats, particularly regarding the core philosophy they recommended for tackling the tourism crisis.

The Director General had agreed unreservedly, despite the Deputy Minister's differing approach, with the strategic framework of the public relations firm KREAB, whose assistance was requested and obtained as part of an existing contract with the "Invest Cyprus" organization.

This specific firm had been selected with the consensus of Irene Piki (Deputy Minister to the President), Konstantinos Letymbiotis (Government Spokesperson), and Costas Koumis (Deputy Minister of Tourism), during an extended meeting held at the Deputy Ministry of Tourism on March 13.