Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1398811
2 NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 4 AUGUST 2021 2 NEWS LAURA CALLEJA STANDARDS commissioner George Hyzler has published guidelines to ensure that gov- ernment advertising and pro- motional material are factually correct. Published on Tuesday, the guidelines under public con- sultation in June say that state adverts and promotional ma- terial produced by the govern- ment or public entities should not include partisan content. Pictures of ministers and ad- verts that feature their names must now abide by the new guidelines. The guidelines state that leaf- lets and other documents other than adverts may include con- tent that refers to the minister, as long as it is limited and con- tributes to a legitimate purpose. Hyzler said that govern- ment-sponsored publication should indicate that it is pub- licly funded for the sake of transparency. Ministers should also direct public funds to the media for advertising in line with fair and objective criteria. However, the guidelines do not cover all situations that may come about, stating that those matters will continue to be governed by the ministerial code of ethics. The new guidelines were put into place after it was revealed that OPM minister Carmelo Abela had used €7,000 for an advertising campaign which was found not to have any "in- formation of value" to the pub- lic. Standards commissioner George Hyzler Standards Commissioner publishes finalised rules for government advertising MATTHEW VELLA THE Speaker of the House has turned down a request for an ex- traordinary sitting of the House, currently in recess, for a motion of no confidence against justice min- ister Edward Zammit Lewis, after Whatsapp chats revealed that he chatted with Yorgen Fenech during the fallout of 17 Black in 2019. Speaker Anglu Farrugia said there was no agreement from the govern- ment side to hold the sitting, citing Standing Orders which, he said, had no definition of what constitutes "urgency", and could therefore only be guided by House rules on what debate could be determined as being of "public importance". But Farrugia went as far as saying that a parliamentary debate to dis- cuss this motion was not a matter of "urgency" and could not be granted as requested, since there was no gov- ernment agreement for an immedi- ate sitting on the motion. "The Speaker considers whether the motion has the neessary ele- ments for the Chamber to discuss the matter at hand, if it is indeed a definite matter of public impor- tance, and whether the urgency is such that it requires an immediate debate before it is too late," Farrugia said, claiming that the PN motion on Zammit Lewis did not have such urgency. In the chats Zammit Lewis re- ferred to Labour supporters as "stu- pid Labourites" (laburist ġaħan) in a exchange with Yorgen Fenech himself. The party described this motion as "the first test for Labour's par- liamentary group to show that they have learned their lesson and that they are really willing to work in the national interest". 69 new COVID-19 cases were registered on Tuesday, figures published by the health ministry show. The total number of deaths stands at 423, with no new deaths reported. Active cases stand at 1,544 after 134 recoveries were registered. Hospitalisations decreased by five, with 31 corona- virus patients being treated at Mater Dei Hospital. Of which five is currently in the ITU. The average age of cases is 34-years-old. 3,157 swab tests were carried out in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of swabs to 1,099,963. Until yesterday, 762,832 vaccine doses were admin- istered, of which 400,760 were first doses. 385,049 people are fully vaccinated. COVID-19 69 new cases and 134 recoveries recorded Speaker rules debate to discuss PN motion not a matter of urgency Speaker of the House Anglu Farrugia