Former Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo on Monday apologised to parliament after the Standards Commissioner found that, together with 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.
A report by retired chief justice Joseph Azzopardi in October detailed how Amanda Muscat was first promoted from personal assistant to a consultant with Camilleri in 2021, with a generously beefed-up salary of almost €62,000 in 2020 and again, with an even higher salary of €68,000.
The standards commissioner's investigation, triggered by Arnold Cassola, found that both ministers were guilty of breaching ministerial ethics and misspending public money.
The parliamentary Standards Committee in November admonished both Camilleri and Bartolo, with the tourism minister also being asked to make a formal apology in parliament and refund excess money given to his wife.
Bartolo had already apologised on social media.
He resigned as tourism minister in November after Times of Malta revealed that the police had received a report into suspicious payments that Bartolo’s wife received over a six-month period in 2023.
Those payments, which totalled around €50,000, were made from a company linked to a Malta Tourism Authority contractor. Investigators at the FIAU, Malta’s anti-money laundering body, suspected the payments were a kickback for the contractor getting MTA work. The claims were denied.
In his statement to parliament on Monday, Bartolo went over his achievements as tourism minister, pointing out that he was appointed in uncertain times during the COVID-19 crisis, with the airport closed and hotels and restaurants fearing for their future. But with the pandemic over, Malta recovered fast, setting one tourism record after another and receiving well over three million tourists last year, he said.
"We are not perfect and cannot expect not to make mistakes, but the worst decision is the decision that is not taken. I let results speak for themselves," he said.
Bartolo never directly mentioned the scandal but pointed out that he had immediately declared that he would abide by all decisions of the Standards Committee and had no problem in offering a sincere apology.
In digs at the Opposition, Bartolo observed that the report had been drawn up by a Standards Commissioner who was previously ridiculed by the opposition and whose appointment the Opposition had strongly resisted. Now members of the Opposition had no qualms quoting his report.
What was worse was that the PN was making claims which were not in the commissioner's report. For example, the report never mentioned the words 'fraud' or 'phantom job'. he said.
And while he was assuming responsibility, the former Nationalist government bore none for various land transfer scandals or the purchase of the (BWSC) power station, he said.
While apologising, Bartolo said he regretted personal attacks made against him and members of his family.
He said he would continue to work and be a voice for his constituents and no one knew what the future held.
Nationalist MP Mark Anthony Sammut asked if minister Clint Camilleri, who had just walked out of the chamber, would make an apology.
The Speaker pointed out to the MP that he knew enough what the Standards Committee had requested.