The Council of Ministers adopted on Wednesday the Code of Conduct for the members of the government. The Code contains a foreword by President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, who stresses that the Code of Conduct, among others, is based on the principles of integrity, meritocracy, transparency, impartiality, honesty, confidentiality, objectivity and accountability. “Safeguarding and observing the above principles is a primary concern, but also my personal obligation to the citizens for the consolidation of a strong Rule of Law,” he says. President Christodoulides stresses that the Code contains specific rules of ethics and the obligations related to those principles, as they arise from the current legislative framework. It is a road map, he notes, based on which himself and every member of the government should decide and act in the framework of their duties, while at the same time it provides for a system of adequate monitoring and effective enforcement in case of non-compliance. Furthermore, the President notes that the Code constitutes the implementation of an action of his Governance Programme as well as a fulfillment of the recommendation of the Greco Committee in the fifth evaluation round. “I invite you to make proper use of the Code as a guide to ‘good governance’, thus offering the best possible service to the Cypriot people, to whom we are all accountable every day and who will ultimately judge us all,” he concludes. The Code is applicable for the members of the government including the Ministers and Deputy Ministers, the Government Spokesperson, the Deputy Government Spokesperson, the Director of the Office of the President of the Republic, the Director of the Press Office of the President of the Republic, the Director of the Diplomatic Office of the President of the Republic, the Commissioners who report to the Presidency, and the Secretary of the Council of Ministers. The Code is binding for the members of the Government.
Source: Cyprus News Agency