It is Prime Minister Robert Abela’s responsibility to make Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo and Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri resign so that part of the political responsibility in the breach of ethics case involving Amanda Muscat’s consultancy position is shouldered, Nationalist Party MPs Mark Anthony Sammut and Ryan Callus said on Monday.
The Standards Commissioner report found that the two Ministers in question were found to have abused their power when Bartolo’s girlfriend at the time, now his wife Muscat, was given a consultancy job within the Ministry for Gozo which she had no qualifications for and did not do. In a meeting last Wednesday, the Standards Committee unanimously decided to adopt the conclusions of the Standards Commissioner’s report which found that the two relevant Ministers had breached ethics.
Callus commented that there seems to be a lot of anticipation for what the Standards Committee will decide next Wednesday concerning this case, as he remarked that the Prime Minister seems to be invoking this anticipation “as if he is washing his hands”. Sammut stated that the Standards Committee is limited in what actions or sanctions it can impose on the two Ministers as Callus said that certain decisions can only be made by the Prime Minister. Callus continued that the most honourable solution one should anticipate in this case is that the Prime Minister would make the decision to request the resignation of the two relevant Ministers.
Sammut and Callus form part of the Parliamentary Committee on Standards in Public Life, and they are the PN’s representatives on the committee which is otherwise made up of a Labour Party majority with Justice Minister Jonathan Attard, Parliamentary Secretary Andy Ellul, and Speaker Anglu Farrugia, who serves as the committee chairperson.
Sammut compared this case to the earlier case involving ex-Minister Justyne Caruana and Daniel Bogdanovic, which was a case in 2021 involving the awarding of a contract to Bogdanovic by Caruana, who was the Education Minister at the time. A report by the Standards Commissioner at the time stated that this appointment by Caruana amounted to an abuse of power, and the Standards Committee had unanimously decided that she had breached ethics by giving Bogdanovic a direct order contract.
The PN MP said that a complaint was made on March 21st 2021 about Bogdanovic’s contract given by Caruana, with Amanda Muscat’s contract with Minister Bartolo being terminated some weeks after the fact and instead being given another consultancy contract with Minister Camilleri. Sammut continued that a day after Muscat’s contract with the Tourism Ministry concluded, her contract with the Gozo Ministry began. He added that Muscat’s contract was approved by the Office of the Prime Minister, and referred to how the Standards Commissioner stated that Muscat was not qualified for the position nor had she carried out the relevant consultancy work for which she was paid.
Continuing on this point, Sammut said that after the report regarding Bogdanovic was published in December 2021, in which the Standards Commissioner found Minister Caruana had breached ethics, Prime Minister Abela dismissed Caruana.
Sammut remarked that the similarities between the Bartolo-Camilleri case and the Caruana case were also understood by the people committing the abuse, as the transfer in Muscat’s position was made “the moment the complaint was made in Caruana’s case”. He continued that the moment Caruana’s report was published, Muscat’s contract was also terminated. “This shows that this was not a mistake that we can just say ‘sorry’ about,” Sammut commented.
He concluded by saying that Prime Minister Abela should treat the current situation the same way he dealt with Caruana’s case, as he added that the Bartolo-Camilleri case is even more severe. “Even though Caruana was made to resign, in this case, it is not happening despite this case being worse than the other,” he stated.
Callus remarked that despite Abela saying that there are a lot of emails which show that Muscat carried out the relevant work, the Standards Commissioner has said that there were no such emails related to Muscat’s work as a consultant. Callus continued that the Prime Minister has said that he dismissed Muscat, but the PN MP referred to the Standards Commissioner report and said that it states the Head of the Gozo Minister’s Secretariat said that he dismissed Muscat. “Here we have two contradictory statements, who dismissed Muscat?” He questioned.
The PN MP concluded by saying that the labour government is “a government of scandals and fraud”. He spoke of the hospitals deal, “the theft of €400 million”, he talked about the ID cards scandal, “fraud involving the issue of false ID cards”, he spoke of drivers’ licences “being given undeservedly” and potentially endangering people, he also spoke of the social benefits scandal as well as the controversy involving Social Accommodation Minister Roderick Galdes, in which Callus said that Galdes “tried to tamper with the electoral registry to try to steal the Siggiewi Local Council”.