Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1140325
6 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 10 JULY 2019 ANALYSIS MASSIMO COSTA THE Standards Commis- sioner has come out strongly against the practice of giving backbench MPs government positions, saying in no un- certain terms that doing so is wrong, regardless of the ra- tionale. In a report issued on 5 July, George Hyzler found that all government backbenchers as well as some Opposition MPs are employed or appointed in the public sector. Hyzler, who took up his role last November, decided to in- vestigate the matter following a request by PD MP Godfrey Farrugia to look into whether the engagement or employ- ment of backbench members of the House of Representa- tives as consultants or em- ployees in the civil service, or of statutory government bod- ies, constituted a conflict of interest or beach of ethical or statutory duties. As part of the investigation procedure, Hyzler compiled an exhaustive list of statu- tory bodies and information on which of them allow MPs to be part of their board of di- rectors. He then asked all in- dividual MPs to supply infor- mation on any appointments they may hold. Below are seven main takea- ways from the Commission- er's report: 1. The practice of employing MPs within the public sector or appointing them to pro- vide contractual services to the public sector is funda- mentally wrong, whether this is done to compensate for in- adequate parliamentary sal- aries or for any other reason To support this conclusion, Hyzler says such a practice dilutes Parliament's role in scrutinising the government's work, therefore "eating into the principle of the separation of powers." Paying MPs through govern- ment posts puts them in a po- sition of financial dependence on the executive, reducing their independence and emas- culating them, he says. The practice overly politi- cises statutory bodies and dis- torts their independence from the government; exacerbates the debatable practice of em- ploying "persons of trust" or persons on a "contract of ser- vice basis"; and might create unnecessary jobs or fill genu- ine vacancies with persons who are not the best suited for the job. Moreover, it goes against the underlying principles of the Constitution and breaches the Code of Ethics of Public Em- ployees and Board Members. 2. Two-thirds of the total number of backbench MPs are employed or engaged by the government in the public service or the wider public sector, in one capacity or an- other Noting that the practice of appointing MPs as parliamen- tary assistants was adopted under the previous adminis- tration, Hyzler found that, in recent years, it had become the practice for backbench MPs to be appointed to roles within ministries. MPs were not precluded from holding other jobs, and their part-time parliamentary salary by itself "does not allow a standard of living commen- surate with their position and responsibilities," the report notes. Within this context, the practice of appointing back- benchers to positions within administration, or to provide contractual services is com- monly seen as either a means to appease those MPs who are not given minister or parlia- mentary secretary roles, or as a means of working around the issue of raising salaries for parliamentarians. Hyzler goes on to lament that while successive govern- ments had acknowledged the problem of MPs remunera- tion, they had all shied away from increasing the relative emoluments, "presumably in fear of political backlash". 3. A 2004 law regulating MPs virtually nullified a consti- tutional clause prohibiting them from employment in the public service The Constitution prohibits anyone from being elected as an MP, save as otherwise pro- vided by Parliament, if they hold or act in any public office or are a member of the armed forces (excluding soldiers and officers). In 2004, through the Mem- bers of Parliament Act, Parlia- ment put in place an exemp- tion from this prohibition by way of an exception allowing an MP to serve concurrently as a public officer if her em- ployment is in a salary scale not higher than scale 6, pro- vided she is not a member of a disciplined force. Hyzler argues that, through this law, Parliament "went well beyond making an ex- ception" and "practically nul- lified" the rule altogether in so far as public services on 7 takeaways from Standard Commissioner's No defending government jobs for MPs