Prime Minister found guilty of ethics breach, refuses to apologise

Prime Minister Robert Abela was found to be in breach of the ministerial code of ethics according to the latest probe published by the Standards Commissioner.

However, in an unprecedented move, Robert Abela refused to make a public apology, as asked for by the Commissioner, and instead insisted that it was his staff that should be accused, not him.

The report’s conclusions, discussed this evening by the Parliamentary Committee for Standards in Public Life, found that the prime minister breached the ministerial code on various counts by airing a propaganda video on social media, funded by taxpayers.

These include his failure to keep separate his role as prime minister and politician, being impartial in anything to do with public service, exercising diligence when it comes to the disbursement of public funds, and respecting the impartiality of public officers.

This was the first time that a sitting prime minister has been found in breach of the Ministerial code of ethics. Ironically, it is Robert Abela who as Prime Minister is tasked with monitoring the respect to the same code by all his Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries.

The probe

The latest investigations by the Standards Commissioner started last year following a call by independent MEP candidate Arnold Cassola.

His complaint focused on the prime minister using public funds for his personal propaganda by posting footage of himself touring government projects on social media, paid by taxpayers.

The Standards Commissioner concluded that the prime minister breached the code as the €700 cost of the video, paid through public coffers, was just a personal propaganda exercise for Robert Abela.

The Commissioner asked Abela to make a public apology. Abela refused, insisting that he was not in breach of any ethics.

Instead, Abela blamed his personal staff for any breach of ethics.

According to Abela, he had instructed them to follow the guidelines issued by the Office of the Commissioner, and he could not be blamed if they did not follow the rules

The staff Abela mentioned include his Head of Communications, Edward Montebello, and his team – all former reporters at the Labour Party’s newsrooms and all put on the government payroll by Abela himself as his persons of trust.

The Standards Commissioner told Abela that he couldn’t just blame his staff for whom he was responsible.