Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1530039
4 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 1 DECEMBER 2024 NEWS JAMES DEBONO jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt Bartolo-Camilleri affair: A timeline of events MATTHEW AQUILINA On the 29 th anniversary of your tragic and mysterious disappearance together with the other passengers of the Piper Lance 9H-ABU We miss you so much dearest Matthew, love Mama, Papa, Daniel & Adrienne, Gillian, Emma, Sophie, Luisa, Anna, Nino, Mattia, Luca, family and friends. Please remember Matthew in your thoughts and prayers. A report by Standards Com- missioner Joseph Azzopardi found that ministers Clayton Bartolo and Clint Camilleri had breached ethical guidelines by hiring Bartolo's partner as a con- sultant. The report revealed that Amanda Muscat had initial- ly been appointed as Bartolo's private secretary when he be- came tourism minister. At the time, Muscat was not in a rela- tionship with Bartolo; the two later became a couple and got married last summer. However, Muscat was later appointed policy advisor, a role that significantly increased her salary. The new role also included an expertise allowance of €15,000. When Bartolo and Muscat be- came romantically involved, she was transferred to the Gozo Ministry as a policy advisor to Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri. Her expertise allowance was then increased to €20,000. Nonetheless, the investiga- tion found that Muscat did not possess the necessary qualifi- cations or expertise to be ap- pointed policy advisor. More importantly, she never actually performed the duties of a policy advisor and contin- ued to carry out the tasks of a private secretary to Bartolo, even when she was supposedly working for the Gozo Ministry. Although Minister Camill- eri testified that it was not his responsibility to oversee the daily activities of everyone in the ministry, the commissioner noted that it was difficult to be- lieve the minister was unaware of her work, especially since her role was directly linked to him. The timeline: February 2022 Arnold Cassola files a report with the Commissioner, high- lighting favouritism and abuse of power in the employment of Amanda Muscat by the Tour- ism Ministry and, subsequent- ly, the Gozo Ministry. The re- port is based on a news report that appeared in The Shift News. 7 November 2024 The standards commission- er issues a report, which finds that Bartolo and Camilleri had breached ministerial eth- ics when Muscat, Bartolo's then-girlfriend, was employed and paid for a job she was not qualified to do. 7 November Clayton Bartolo offers a half-hearted apology. "While I do not agree with all that the Standards Com- missioner wrote, I accept the report," he stated. "If there are instances where I may have slipped, with all humility, I apologise." Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri offers no apology, writing on his Facebook page that he took note of the Standards Commis- sioner's report and will await the outcome of the discussion in the parliamentary commit- tee. 11 November Robert Abela stands by his de- cision not to sack Bartolo and Camilleri, while saying that he was the one who decided to terminate Amanda Muscat's job in 2021. Abela adds that it would now be up to parlia- ment's standards committee to decide how best to sanction the ministers. 16 November In an interview with Times of Malta, Robert Abela insists that the circumstances "do not warrant Clayton Bartolo or Clint Camilleri stepping down from their ministerial duties." He states firmly: "Muscat worked her full hours, and the Standards Commissioner con- firmed this was not a phantom job. The discrepancy lay in the transition from her role as a private secretary to that of a consultant." 18 November The Nationalist Party holds a protest outside parliament, calling for the resignation of Bartolo and Camilleri. During the protest, PN lead- er Bernard Grech accuses the Prime Minister of being "weak with his ministers, weak in gov- ernment, weak within his par- ty." 21 November Parliament's Standards Com- mittee, including Labour MPs Jonathan Attard and Andy Ellul, unanimously endorse the report, censuring Minis- ters Clayton Bartolo and Clint Camilleri for an ethical breach. 26 November Clayton Bartolo resigns as Tourism Minister and as a La- bour MP. Prime Minister Rob- ert Abela says the decision was taken in light of a fresh probe into new allegations involving payments received by his wife. Taking to Facebook, the ex-minister states that he of- fered the Prime Minister his resignation, adding that when he had been appointed to Cab- inet, he promised to "shoulder political responsibility if some- one uses me to attack the gov- ernment's or the PL's work." 26 November Times of Malta reports that the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU), Malta's anti-money laundering agen- cy, had flagged transactions involving payments to Amanda Muscat to the police. According to the report, Amanda Muscat received €50,000 from a private firm suspected to be a kickback re- lated to a Malta Tourism Au- thority (MTA) contract. The alleged kickback was paid by a company linked to Italian cyclist Valerio Agnoli, who was hired by the MTA to promote cycling tourism in Malta. 27 November Clint Camilleri and Clayton Bartolo are both admonished by parliament's Standards Committee. Bartolo is ordered to make a formal apology in parliament and refund the excess money his wife earned as a consultant. Opposition motions demand- ing Camilleri's resignation as minister, Bartolo's suspen- sion as an MP for 30 days, and for Muscat to refund the full amount she earned as a con- sultant at Camilleri's Gozo Ministry are voted down by the Speaker, who casts the decid- ing vote. 29 November Prime Minister Robert Ab- ela stands by Camilleri when asked by MaltaToday whether he considers the case a closed chapter. Abela insists there is no rea- son for Camilleri to resign given the sanctions imposed by the Standards Committee and the fact that Muscat has refunded the extra money she had been paid. The Standards Committee discussing the report on Clayton Bartolo and Clint Camilleri