Updated 6pm with PN conference details 

Clayton Bartolo and Clint Camilleri committed "blatant fraud" with people's money and should resign immediately, PN leader Bernard Grech said, amid the fallout of a scandal over a job for the tourism minister's now-wife.

The two government ministers have been found guilty of breaching ministerial ethics and misspending public money after an investigation found Amanda Muscat was hired for a job she was unqualified for and did not do. 

Reacting on Facebook, Grech called for the immediate resignation of both men or for Prime Minister Robert Abela to "fire them" if they do not leave.

He said the pair "committed fraud with the people's money in the phantom job that was given by the two ministers to the wife of Minister Bartolo".

"While you are struggling to make ends meet, they are robbing you," Grech added.

"Therefore, they should resign immediately."

The damning report by standards commissioner Joseph Azzopardi was published on Thursday by parliament's ethics committee. 

'Not my decision'

Justice Minister Jonathan Attard, a member of that committee, would not say if the two minsters should resign when questioned by Times of Malta outside parliament.  

"There is an ongoing process in front the committee for standards in public life and we should allow that process to go on" Attard said. "The report has now been published but there is no reason why it should not be treated like any other case".

The committee is due to meet again on November 21, when they will vote on whether to adopt the report. If adopted the parliament will then discuss an appropriate sanction, which can vary from a warning to a suspension from parliament.

He said the decision on whether anyone should resign was not his to make.

In a statement, Arnold Cassola, who triggered the investigation, said the breach of ethics on the part of the two ministers has now been clearly proven.

"I now expect Prime Minister Robert Abela to lead by example on good governance and take the necessary disciplinary action against the two ministers, whilst introducing safeguards to ensure that such blatant abuses do not re-occur in the future," he said.

The standards report was published following a unanimous decision by the committee, which also includes fellow Labour MP Andy Ellul, speaker Anglu Farrugia and PN MPs Mark Anthony Sammut and Ryan Callus.

Repubblika files police complaint

Rule-of-law NGO Repubblika meanwhile called on Police Commissioner Angelo Gafa' to charge Bartolo, Camilleri and Muscat for being complicit, criminal associates and public officials who breached the criminal code, and for laundering money.

The complaint, signed by Jason Azzopardi, was also sent to the Attorney General. 

PN press conference

On Thursday afternoon, public administration shadow minister Claudette Buttigieg told a press conference Bartolo and Camilleri should be fired or leave their posts.

She said Robert Abela had ensured the resignations of Rosianne Cutajar and Justyne Caruana in similar circumstances, and the prime minister should follow his own precedent.

“In the case of Caruana, Abela did not wait for the conclusions of any discussion,” the PN MP said.

Buttigieg was flanked by shadow ministers for Gozo and tourism Alex Borg and Mario De Marco.

Borg called the findings “shocking”.

He pointed out that Muscat’s transfer to the Gozo ministry occurred five weeks after Cassola had asked the Standards Commissioner to investigate another contract that then-minister Caruana had awarded to her partner Daniel Bogdanovic.

“[Muscat's transfer] took place because there was a fear that the same thing that happened to Caruana could happen to Bartolo,” Borg claimed.

De Marco meanwhile said the role of a minister carried great power and responsibility.

“That power should be used to benefit the public and not personal interests or familial gain,” he said.

De Marco said parliamentary watchdogs such as the standards commissioner, should be given more resources to complete their reports more efficiently.