The entire cabinet of Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias, under fire after a munitions blast killed 13 people and wrecked the island's main power plant, resigned on Thursday, an official said. The 11 ministers were asked by Christofias to submit their resignations so a reshuffle could take place, government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou told reporters.
"The president ... briefed ministers of his intention to make a general reshuffle of the cabinet and for this reason requested that ministers put their resignations at his disposal," he said. The ministers will stay on until a new government is appointed. Christofias himself, the target of nearly daily demonstrations demanding his resignation following the July 11 blast, said he had no intention of stepping down.
Asked by a reporter if he had thought about it, he said: "No, not in any case. The people elected me and I am accountable to the people." Stefanou said there will be a reshuffle "soon" following consultations with the government's coalition partners and other parties. "It is a move for the president to seek to appoint a government of wider acceptance to achieve consensus on economic measures and to restore public trust," he said.
The move comes after junior coalition partner Diko told its ministers on Wednesday to quit the government. And it follows an announcement by ratings agency Moody's that it had downgraded Cypriot government bond ratings in part over the economic fallout from the blast and the "increasingly fractious domestic political climate." Christofias and his team are widely accused of failing to prevent the explosion, which also injured more than 60 people, caused millions of euros in damage to homes and businesses in the vicinity and threatened economic recovery on the island.
Diko said its ministers were asked to tender their resignation to Christofias to "assist and expedite decision making and taking initiatives which everybody expects". It said decisions needed to be taken to "restore the trust of citizens in the state and its institutions and rescue the economy."
A reshuffle is supported by communist Akel, the president's own party. Diko had two ministers - health and commerce - in the cabinet following the resignation of Foreign Minister Marcos Kyprianou last week. Leaked documents in the media indicate that officials knew that the 98 shipping containers of munitions - piled up in the blazing sun at the base near Limassol - could explode.