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Roundup: Cypriot president moves to sack Central Bank governor

Xinhua, March 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades asked the state's Attorney General on Monday to immediately set in motion the process for the sacking of Central Bank governor Chrystalla Georghadji.

The government claims she failed to tell the president at the time of her appointment about a conflict of interest situation involving her estranged lawyer spouse.

Government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides said the president sent a letter to Attorney General Costas Clerides on Monday requesting him to activate constitutional provisions for the removal of the central bank governor.

Georghadji dismissed a conflict of interest accusation and also turned down strongly-worded demands by all parliamentary parties and a call by the president himself to step down.

Though she was appointed by Anastasiades just a year ago, she can only be removed after a judicial panel appointed by the High Court president reaches a conclusion that she had violated her contract by act or omission.

The spokesman said Georghadji failed to reveal that her estranged husband, from whom she was not legally divorced, acted as lawyer for Greek banker and businessman Andreas Vgenopoulos in a legal case involving the winding down of Cyprus Popular Bank, known as Laiki, in the wake of the 2013 bailout of the eastern Mediterranean island.

As Central Bank governor and also president of a three-member bank resolution authority, Georghadji is expected to provide evidence supporting the state's case that Vgenopoulos had caused the collapse of Laiki.

Georghadji's husband came out in support of her, calling accusations against her unjust and unfounded.

He said he has returned Vgenopoulos's mandate to legally represent him in his litigation with the Cypriot state.

But the government spokesman said his move does not mean there has not been a conflict of interest situation, but even gives credibility to the charge.

The Attorney General told the state television that he expects the High Court to act quickly in dealing with the central banker's case despite its burdened schedule.

Georghadji is a member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) and is almost certain to request ECB's support.

The state television quoted a government official as saying that ECB president Mario Draghi has told president Anastasiades in a telephone conversation that as long as all Cypriot legal provisions are applied he has no reason to intervene. Endit