Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/426299
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 3 DECEMBER 2014 News 4 Army promotions: Ombudsman says conflict with government should have been avoided CONTINED FROM PAGE 1 Said Pulli- cino concedes that the present ad- ministration has every right to dis- agree with the agreement reached with the previous one. It could also amend legislation applying to these complaints. "But until these regulations and laws are not changed, the army is bound to observe them. On the other hand if the law is changed the ombudsman will be obliged to abide by the new law." But Said Pullicino makes it clear that he would never accept as fair any amendments or interpretations which deny officials the right to seek redress from the ombudsman which is given to them by present laws. He also contends that before any decision was taken to backtrack from the agreement reached with the previous government, the of- fice of the ombudsman should have been informed and consulted. "This should not have been done as an act of courtesy but as a sign of respect towards the principles of good public administration." Presently, according to Said Pul- licino, the standoff between his of- fice and the government can only be resolved through a decision by the law courts on whether the om- budsman has jurisdiction over the army. But the ombudsman expressed concern that court procedures can take long and thus delay any re- dress for the officials making the complaint. As an alternative the ombudsman is proposing that such conflicts are referred to parliament in a way that the correct interpretation of the law is discussed to avoid recourse to the courts. Mechanism to inform opposition 'in confidence' proposed In his annual report the Ombuds- man is proposing a mechanism through which sensitive informa- tion which cannot be divulged to the public is provided "in confi- dence but tempestively" and "by right" to the President and the leader of the opposition. This would apply to matters re- lated to national security, interna- tional relations and fiscal policy, which may not be in the national interest to divulge to the general public immediately. The ombudsman is calling for a code of conduct and a protocol, which would bind the government when faced with similar requests for information, which cannot be immediately divulged, to the pub- lic. Persons of trust The ombudsman expressed con- cern that in the past years under both PN and PL administrations, the demarcation line between en- gagement in the public service and engagement in ministry sec- retariats "has become increasingly blurred." While recognizing the right of governments to appoint persons of trust to ensure the implementation of the electoral manifesto, the om- budsman notes that traditionally this role was restricted to persons directly appointed by ministers who are engaged by a contract to form part of a ministry secretariat or to directly assist the minister in his duties. He notes that different govern- ments have been directly appoint- ing persons in administrative roles in various departments to ensure that government policies are im- plemented. Whenever such appointments become the rule and not the excep- tion, these lead to a "lack of trans- parency and a lack of accountabil- ity." This is because these appoint- ments are being made in the ab- sence of calls for applications and according to undefined conditions of service. According to the ombudsman Malta is moving from the British tradition, where the civil service is autonomous, to a US style system where with every change of gov- ernment all civil service officials offer their resignation when a new administration comes into office. The ombudsman does not ex- press any opinion on which system is best but insists that irrespective of which system of appointments is adopted, engagement in both the civil service and in other public au- thorities should be transparent and subject to clear rules which ensure accountability, The ombudsman reiterated the concern he had expressed under a PN administration on the widen- ing of the definition of 'position of trust' as this could lead to allega- tions of "abuse and discrimination". He called for a debate in parliament to ensure a better definition. jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt Joseph Said Pullicino: calling for a code of conduct and a protocol Muscat says PN leader 'made a fool of himself' by attacking judiciary JURGEN BALZAN PRIME Minister Joseph Muscat yesterday denied that he was ab- sconding from his responsibili- ties, and turning the tables on the leader of the opposition, he ac- cused Simon Busuttil of being "ir- responsible". Concluding the budget debate on the Office of the Prime Min- ister, Muscat said Busuttil should be ashamed of himself for accus- ing three retired members of the judiciary of conjuring a cover-up in their investigations into the shooting incident involving the home affairs minister Manuel Mallia's driver. Telling Busuttil that he had made a fool of himself, Muscat said "Parliament deserves better standards and I hold the leader of the opposition accountable for his words and in the coming weeks we' ll all see who is responsible and who isn't." Claiming that Busuttil 's accusa- tions had shocked his own MPs, Muscat said "the leader of the op- position attacked persons of great integrit y. I will accept the con- clusions of the inquiry, whatever they are and I challenge the leader of the opposition to do the same." In reply to accusations that he was hiding behind the inquiry, a bullish Muscat said: "I am wait- ing for the facts to be determined by the inquiry. I never shied away from taking decisions and I never will." Following Busuttil 's criticism of the government's announcement about the new power plant – ex- pected to be commissioned by June 2016 – Muscat said the €14 million injection into Enemalta was not a subsidy as the PN leader alleged. Muscat explained that the allo- cation was an EU requirement to secure the energy supply which next year will improve due to the interconnector. "It is being added on because it needs to take into account the in- terconnector. You have absolutely no idea of what you are talking about." The Prime Minister also shot down Busuttil 's claim that the government had made a wrong decision in binding itself in pur- chasing power at a fixed price from the new power plant which will be constructed by Electrogas Malta, explaining that the other options provided by the intercon- nector were more expensive. Opening the debate, Simon Bu- suttil accused the retired judg- es leading the inquiry into the shooting incident involving home affairs minister Manuel Mallia's driver of "covering up a cover up." In reference to Muscat's claim on the programme Dissett last week that he did not suspend Mal- lia until the inquiry is concluded because there was no use to sus- pend the minister only to reap- point him a fortnight later, the PN leader said "The Prime Minister already knows that the inquiry would not apportion any blame to Mallia. It's another cover up of theirs." In his brief address to the House, Busuttil said the country had had enough of the "anything goes cul- ture" cultivated by the Labour government. Insisting that the country de- serves an honest government, Bu- suttil said the shooting incident involving the minister's driver epitomised the laissez faire atti- tude. "Whoever is on Labour's band- wagon feels they have a licence to do as they please. This has led to the creation of two classes of citizens, with normal citizens on one side and others like Minis- ter Helena Dalli and her husband who can do whatever they like," Busuttil said in reference to the civil liberties minister's ostensi- bly illegal works on a farmhouse she owns. Insisting that Mallia's position was no longer tenable, Busuttil said the Prime Minister should shoulder his responsibilities and "stop hiding" behind the inquiries which were ordered. "Mallia's position is no longer tenable and you do not need an inquiry to reach such an obvious conclusion," he said. Simon Busuttil Joseph Muscat PN leader: inquiry into shooting incident involving Manuel Mallia's driver is a cover up