A political commentator has asked the standards commissioner to investigate the cabinet for issuing a “partisan” statement through the Department of Information.
Kevin Cassar, a surgeon and columnist who also writes for Times of Malta, filed the complaint after reading the DOI statement, issued on Tuesday.
That statement reiterated the cabinet’s confidence in former Health Minister Chris Fearne, following revelations of a conspiracy to smear him.
However, the statement also attacked the Nationalist Party, stating that the Opposition had always sought to "destroy" Fearne, particularly when it became known that it was the government's choice to serve as EU commissioner.
In his complaint to the Standards Commissioner, columnist Kevin Cassar said: “The language used in the press release is, in my view, clearly partisan and the statement does not respect the political impartiality of the public service.”
Cassar asked the Standards Commissioner whether the last paragraph respected the political impartiality of the public service and asked the commissioner to determine whether the prime minister and his cabinet abused their influence on the public service.
His request for an investigation came to light on Saturday, when it was divulged by Prime Minister Robert Abela.
Speaking on the Labour Party’s radio station ONE Radio and without mentioning Cassar by name, Abela said that a complaint “coming from the Nationalist Party” had been filed, in what he described as an “attack on the cabinet”.
“A person whose affiliation with the PN is well-known asked the Standards Commissioner to investigate the entire cabinet,” Abela said.
“The PN’s tactics are clear,” Abela said. “The party is using its allies to attack the cabinet and mask their responsibility.”
Abela also accused Opposition leader Bernard Grech of having committed perjury. A case Grech filed against the state advocate, he said, alleged that Fearne, himself [Abela] and others including Joseph Muscat were found to have colluded with Vitals and Steward.
Vitals and Steward operated three state hospitals under a concession granted to them by the Muscat government. That concession was annulled last year and is now the subject of criminal prosecutions.
"He lied under oath when he said black on white that Chris Fearne and I were found by the court of appeals that we committed crimes in conspiracy with Steward. It's a lie, Bernard Grech committed perjury," Abela said.