Updated 4.45pm
Clayton Bartolo has made a conditional apology over revelations that, together with fellow minister Clint Camilleri, he abused his power and breached ministerial ethics when his now-wife was employed in a job she was not qualified for and did not do.
On Thursday, a report by retired chief justice Joseph Azzopardi, published by parliament’s ethics committee, detailed how Amanda Muscat was first promoted from Bartolo’s personal assistant to his consultant with a generously beefed-up salary of almost €62,000 in 2020 and again, with an even higher salary of €68,000, with Camilleri in 2021.
The standards commissioner's investigation, triggered by Arnold Cassola, found that both ministers were guilty of breaching ministerial ethics and misspending public money.
Opposition leader Bernard Grech has since called for their resignation.
Bartolo was the first to react, offering a conditional apology: "If there were any shortcomings from my end, I humbly apologise".
He said while he did not agree with everything in the standards commissioner's investigation, he accepted the report.
"No one is perfect in this world, and only those who do not do anything do not commit any mistakes. As I've done in the past years serving this [ministerial] role, I will continue focusing on my work within the tourism industry that is leading to the generation of wealth benefitting the whole population," he told Facebook followers.
Bartolo added that as one waited for the committee's discussion on the report, he wanted to clarify that Muscat was only engaged for eight months with the Gozo Ministry, in line with regulations laid out in the Manual of Resourcing, Policies and Procedures.
He refuted claims of favouritism.
The contract, he said, came to an end on December 31 2021 and Muscat has since not been employed by the government.
He added that contrary to what was reported, Azzopardi's report did not say that she did not carry out any work.
In his report Azzopardi said he could not find evidence that she did any consultancy work with both ministries. Muscat herself testified that she continued to carry out the work of a private secretary, albeit with some more responsibilities.
Camilleri also reacted to the report, however, he offered no apology.
Instead, he repeated what Bartolo said: as one waited for the committee's discussion, he wanted to clarify that Muscat was only engaged for eight months in line with the Manual of Resourcing, Policies and Procedures.
He also said the report did not say she did not carry out any work.
"This is one government and ministers like that of Gozo require collaboration with every ministry, including the tourism ministry - just as was the case when it came to the Tourism Strategy 2021-2030, the Diving strategy, the film industry and the Malta International Fireworks Festival," he told his social media followers.
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.