Agreement 'close' on Ombudsman

The two political parties are "close to reaching agreement" on the right candidate for the post of Ombudsman, political sources told The Times as the backlog of pending files at the watchdog's office in Valletta keeps piling up.

The sources said the government and opposition are likely to agree soon on a common candidate for the Ombudsman's post vacated by Joseph Sammut over two months ago after a 10-year tenure.

Though both sides were reluctant to comment on the prospective Ombudsman, sources said there seemed to be a common denominator in Chief Justice Emeritus Joseph Said Pullicino, who was until recently chairman of the Broadcasting Authority.

The choice is in the hands of two committees specifically appointed to discuss such appointments - the government's committee made up of Ministers Tonio Borg and Louis Galea and MP Mario Galea, and the opposition's made up of MPs Charles Mangion, Adrian Vassallo and Joe Mizzi.

Though no meetings have been held between the committees, there has been an "informal exchange of ideas" between the two. A two-thirds majority of the House of Representatives is needed for the nomination to be approved.

But as the two sides take their time to come up with a name, other sources said the number of pending cases at the Ombudsman's office is growing by the day. Only a preliminary opinion is being submitted to the complainant; since there is no Ombudsman to investigate the cases no conclusions can be published.

This is prompting frustration among both the staff and the public.

"The person who's going to take over as Ombudsman is certainly in for a tough job to clear the backlog," the sources said.

There appears to be less agreement over the choice of the next chairman of the Broadcasting Authority. The board's term expired last March, but the Prime Minister agreed to reinstate it for another six months.