Clayton Bartolo has not only resigned as Tourism Minister, but he has also been kicked out of the Labour Party parliamentary group, Prime Minister Robert Abela said Tuesday.
Speaking to journalists, Abela said that Bartolo will no longer represent the Labour Party in Parliament.
It is understood that the Prime Minister has learnt of a new scandal involving Bartolo, swith the Prime Minister saying that the decision was made in the light of different circumstances to those that followed the publication of a report by the Standards Commissioner into the ethics breach.
Foreign Minister Ian Borg is set to take over the responsibilities as Tourism Minister. Borg is also Deputy Prime Minister.
Abela would not say what these new circumstances were, but he said that Bartolo’s wife Amanda Muscat will be refunding the excess payments she reveived as a fictitious consultant.
Abela refused to say that Bartolo had been sacked. “I called him and a decision was taken,” Abela said, adding that Bartolo will be in a better position to defend himself.