Pressure mounting on Tsitouridis
Labor Minister Savvas Tsitouridis will be fighting for his political life today when he faces a grilling from MPs on a parliamentary committee that is examining the bonds scandal. Pressure is continuing to build on the beleaguered minister as more New Democracy officials suggested yesterday that he should be sacked over the alleged purchase of structured bonds at inflated prices by pension funds. ND Deputy Panos Kammenos suggested that Tsitouridis should resign to help the investigation into the affair and to allow the ruling conservatives to move on. Sources close to Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis said he will be watching this week’s developments closely before deciding on the minister’s future. Karamanlis has so far stood by Tsitouridis, who he considers to be a close aide. Meanwhile, the Cypriot Capital Market Commission suspended the operation of Troilos KEPEY in connection to the sale of allegedly overpriced bonds to pension funds. It is the third brokerage that has faced measures since the scandal broke last month.
