Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1535109
3 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 7 MAY 2025 NEWS Abela refuses to apologise after breaching ethics by appearing in government ad MATTHEW FARRUGIA mfarrugia@mediatoday.com.mt THE Commissioner for Standards in Pub- lic Life has concluded that Prime Minister Robert Abela breached ethics when he failed to separate his official role from his political role in a complaint regarding a government advert. The complaint was published after the Prime Minister declined a proposal to close the case with a written apology. Similarly, Abela had also refused to apologise for a very similar ethics breach just last year. The investigation began following a complaint filed on 10 September, 2024, by PN MP Karol Aquilina. The complaint targeted a sponsored Facebook video post titled "10 more measures for the good of the people," which appeared on the offi- cial MaltaGov Facebook page. Aquilina alleged that the appearance of the Prime Minister and nine other minis- ters and parliamentary secretaries in the video violated principles such as keeping ministerial roles separate from political roles, respecting the impartiality of the public service, exercising diligence with public funds, and not abusing influence over the public service. This is not the first time the commis- sioner's office has investigated complaints regarding government advertising featur- ing ministers. Previous reports by the former stand- ards czar found misuse of public funds for personal publicity, but the parliamentary Standards Committee did not adopt these reports, often due to tied votes and the Speaker citing the lack of legal force of the former commissioner's 2021 Guidelines. The current commissioner believes the Committee has interpreted ethical rules too narrowly, preventing action in such cases, and has previously recommended the guidelines be incorporated into the Code of Ethics to give them legal stand- ing. As the MaltaGov Facebook page is man- aged by the Office of the Prime Minister, the commissioner wrote to the Prime Minister on 20 September 2024, for his views. The Prime Minister later clarified the advertising cost was €49.96, with no pro- duction costs as the video was made in- ternally. In his response, Abela argued the video was factual and non-partisan, serving only to inform the public about government work. However, the commissioner stated he was not satisfied with the Prime Min- ister's explanation. He reasoned that a minister appearing in a government ad for a government measure easily suggests an attempt to gain political or personal credit, which is precisely why the guide- lines prohibit such inclusion in paid of- ficial ads. While acknowledging the gov- ernment's duty to inform the public, the commissioner argued this does not justify advertisement. The commissioner concluded that the video and sponsored post did breach ar- ticles 4.9, 4.10, 5.3, and 7.4 of the Code of Ethics. He considered it a relatively minor breach due to the video's brevity and the low expenditure involved. He viewed it as involving the misuse of public funds, a failure to separate ministerial and par- liamentary roles, and a lack of respect for public service impartiality. Given the minor nature of the breach, the commissioner proposed closing the case by asking the Prime Minister for a written apology. However, the Prime Minister responded by stating that his po- sition was the same as in a previous case where he did not provide an apology. Consequently, as the Prime Minister did not accept the proposed resolution, the commissioner is required to refer the case to the Standards Committee. Prime Minister Robert Abela Alex Borg breaches ethics, refuses to apologise about false claims on Fort Chambray concession NATIONALIST MP Alex Borg breached ethics when he made false claims about the Fort Chambray concession while re- fusing to issue an apology regarding his statement. The complaint against Borg was filed by former PL candidate Jesmond Bonello, who alleged that Borg made declarations about the Fort Chambray concession that were not true. Specifically, the complaint highlighted a Facebook post in which Borg claimed he voted in favor of the concession part- ly because the government's contractual obligation to restore the fortifications had been transferred to the new concession- aire. Bonello argued that the approved con- cession contract showed the opposite. Borg repeated a similar claim during a MaltaToday interview shortly after the vote on the concession where he stated that government was supposed to fix the walls but failed, and now the concession- aire was stepping in to do the repairs. The Fort Chambray concession, orig- inally granted in 2005 for development and later amended, underwent a variation contract approved unanimously by parlia- ment. The new contract sparked public con- troversy, partly due to the extension of the development area leading to the dem- olition of historic barracks and concerns that the concessionaire had not fulfilled original obligations, yet received more fa- vourable terms. In his report, the commissioner conclud- ed that Borg did not state the government had a duty to restore the fort's barracks. The standards czar explains that mak- ing inaccurate statements does not auto- matically amount to an ethical violation, but Borg did breach ethics, as his remarks were intended to support his vote in favor of the revised concession. The report also acknowledged that Borg later clarified his position in another in- terview with the Times of Malta, where he admitted that, eventually, the government would cover the restoration costs through tax exemptions granted to the new con- cessionaires. The Commissioner wrote to Borg, in- forming him of these considerations and proposing to conclude the case through a written apology, but Borg never apolo- gised. Opposition Gozo spokesperson Alex Borg (Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday)