President of the Republic of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades presented on Monday a package of measures for the modernisation of the institutions and state, assuring the citizens of his determination and that of his government to meet the expectations of the society for a new bold start.

The measures include the introduction of rules of good governance, combating corruption, collusion and established bad practices, promoting meritocracy and egalitarianism, and reforming public administration, with the active involvement of the citizens and a deadline for the implementation of the action plan expiring at the end of December 2013.

The President pointed out that elected representative and anybody holding public office will be made accountable for his or her actions.

The government decided to put forward a bill to amend the Constitution in order to define precisely and widen the offences for which the President of the Republic can face criminal charges and to oblige officials to make public their property, movable and immovable, within a specific timetable.

The President announced the introduction of measures to combat corruption, including establishing a monitoring commission relating to tenders in the public sector and detailed minutes of meetings various state related authorities convene.

On the modernization of the state machinery, Anastasiades referred to the appointment of Reform Commissioner who will draft, within three months, a plan of action with concrete recommendations to reform the public sector.