ADPD has insisted that appointments such as those of the Ombudsman and the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life "should not be used for political horse-trading".
Addressing a press conference in Valletta on Saturday morning, ADPD chairperson Carmel Cacopardo and PRO Brian Decelis noted that the Ombudsman had indicated his intention not to renew his term a year ago, with the government and Opposition yet to agree on a replacement.
Moreover, a new Commissioner for Standards in Public Life must be appointed in the coming weeks following Dr George Hyzler’s nomination to the European Court of Auditors.
"Transparency, accountability and good governance should be the fundamental values underpinning the way politics is carried our in our country. The two roles of Ombudsman and Commissioner for Standards in Public Life, together with that of the Auditor General, are essential to ensure that these basic values for any democracy have strong roots in our institutions," Decelis said.
"However these roles have become part of the political horse-trading in which the PN and PL are currently engaged in, and new appointments to these important roles in our democratic infrastructure have not been named. How long is it going to take for these vacancies to be filled? The country cannot wait for the Government and the Opposition to end their games."
Cacopardo highlighted the publication of three reports earlier this week by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) dealing with various aspects of the integrity of public life in Malta.
The first report emphasized on the need to reinforce existing legislation while the second considered the changes required for the Office of the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life to become more effective. The third report listed a number of recommendations to regulate lobbying.
"While lobbying is part of the democratic process ADPD has repeatedly insisted that this should be carried out in a transparent manner. Even though the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life had published a consultation paper, two years down the line nothing has yet been done. And this is no coincidence – both parties in parliament are not interested," Cacopardo said.
In fact, among the three OECD reports’ 71 recommendations there are many that have been present in the local public debate about the need for transparency, accountability and good governance for a considerable time.
The Ombudsman, the Auditor General and the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life are doing sterling work that is many a time obstructed whenever they seek information in the course of their duties to examine issues at hand.
“Unfortunately, having the necessary laws and roles in place to strengthen integrity in public life is not enough if it is not matched by the political will to let them carry out their work in practice. We must strive for a serious way of doing politics every day,” concluded Cacopardo.