Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1333591
4 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 27 JANUARY 2021 NEWS MATTHEW VELLA A press statement by the economy minister through the Department of Information which was deemed to be of a partisan nature, was a breach of ethics the Commission- er for Standards for Public Life has decreed. George Hyzler reiterated the need to avoid partisan state- ments in official press releases, after a complaint was lodged by Prof. Kevin Cassar against Silvio Schembri, the minister for econ- omy. Hyzler said ministers are obliged to respect the political impartiali- ty of the public service. "Ministers and members of the Opposition alike are at liberty to make parti- san statements through personal or party channels, but doing so through the Department of Infor- mation constitutes an abuse," the commissioner said, upholding the complaint. Silvio Schembri acknowledged that his press statement "might have been considered overly par- tisan" and undertook to "make every effort to avoid such state- ments when these are issued through the DOI". The Commissioner considered this statement to be a sufficient remedy in the circumstances of the case, but said he would take a more serious view of similar fu- ture cases. Hyzler has already treated the matter of ministers and the use of the Department of Information for press statements in a report is- sued in August 2019, in which he recommended that the DOI de- velop a policy determining what constitutes acceptable content in statements to be published by it. The November 2020 complaint requested Hyzler to investigate a press release on 8 October 2020 relating to the decision by the Malta Business Registry to re- move 10,000 companies from its register. The complainant expressed the view that "the language used in the press release as well as its content was clearly partisan, and the state- ment certainly did not respect the political impartiality of the public service". The complainant quoted from the press release: "It is clear that the intention of the PN statement is to cause harm. Its authors are very much aware that they are being deliberately deceitful …." … "The deplorable attack is yet another example of how the Op- position strives to harm the coun- try continuously". … "While it is a fact that the current leader of the Opposition is ashamed to say that he is Maltese, such a stance does not give him the prerogative to harm the country". Hyzler concluded that the state- ment failed to respect the separa- tion between the role of minister and party member, and that it breached the principle of political impartiality of the public service. "The statements in question should not have been published by the Department of Informa- tion in the first place. The failure of the department to request a revision of the section containing partisan and political statements, does not relieve the Minister from his obligation to ensure that only statements with comprehensive and meaningful information on government policies, services and activities as well as on matters of public interest are referred for publication by the DOI," Hyzler said. Standards czar: DOI failed to correct Schembri's partisan press statement Silvio Schembri LAURA CALLEJA NATIONALIST Party leader Bernard Grech has denied being forced to retain Stephen Spiteri and Robert Arrigo in their for- mer shadow cabinet posts after facing backlash from their con- stituents. Grech insisted the exercise to reshuffle the shadow cabinet was "a process" that included speaking to individuals to make sure the portfolios were best suited to them. The shadow portfolios of PN MPs were reshuffled last week, in a three-day exercise that was characterised by friction. Grech had made certain choic- es that were then reversed when the final outcome was communicated. The PN leader faced backlash when he tried to remove the health and tourism portfolios from Spiteri and Arrigo re- spectively. But he also had to backtrack on other choices he originally made. Asked by MaltaToday, Grech denied being forced to retain Spiteri and Arrigo. "The re- shuffling of a shadow cabinet is a process. It includes discus- sions with various members, to make sure each person is best suited for the role... I am con- tent with the current cabinet, and am looking forward to the future," Grech said after visit- ing the University of Malta's students' council. "I am confident that the shadow cabinet will be work- ing much better because every deputy is happy and satisfied with their portfolio," he said. Last week, a reshuffle of port- folios unsettled the PN par- liamentary group and caused backlash in some of the dis- tricts where the MPs hail from. Grech also did a U-turn on Mario Galea and reappointed him as the spokesperson for mental health and animal rights after having initially withdrawn the mental health portfolio. KSU visit During a visit to the Univer- sity Students' Council (KSU), Grech said mental health prob- lems are on the rise due to the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting the quality of life of students. "We need to understand that because of this pandemic, men- tal health problems are on the rise and are affecting the qual- ity of life of students. If a per- son cannot live a serene life because of the anxiety they are going through, then life will not be complete," Grech told KSU representatives. He stressed that due to the pandemic students are being deprived of important memo- ries; however, he appealed to students to remember that the sacrifices made will reduce the duration of the pandemic. He also said that today's young generation will be one of the best that the country has seen, because they have already experienced hardships, pro- ducing a resilient generation. "You will be great leaders someday because you already know what the difficulties are around us," Grech said. He said the university was the cradle of the educational and profes- sional future of the country. Bernard Grech denies backtracking on shadow portfolios 'All are happy and satisfied' Bernard Grech on his vist to KSU Silvio Schembri