Independent candidate Arnold Cassola on Monday added his voice to calls for the immediate dismissal of Clayton Bartolo and Clint Camilleri following a damning report by the Standards Commissioner.

Addressing the media in Valletta ahead of a protest in front of Parliament organised by the PN, Cassola said the tourism and Gozo ministers should be fired and any money stolen from the Maltese taxpayer returned.

He added he would be asking the Public Accounts Committee in parliament to recover “some of the €68,000 swindled from the taxpayer for doing nothing".

Cassola accused the ministers of promoting “arrogance, clientelism, and nepotism” in Maltese politics.

He was the first to report the issue to the Standards Commissioner after a report by The Shift alleged that Amanda Muscat, Bartolo’s then-girlfriend, was transferred from the Tourism Ministry to the Gozo Ministry for work she did not turn up for.

The commissioner’s investigation found that Bartolo and Camilleri had abused their positions and breached ministerial ethics.

The report showed that Bartolo’s now-wife was employed in a government position for which she was unqualified and did not perform her duties, while Camilleri failed to ensure proper oversight of his employees.

Cassola questioned whether Bartolo had shown favouritism towards his “girlfriend” at the time and why Camilleri allowed employees to neglect their responsibilities.

On Monday, Cassola commended Finance Minister Clyde Caruana and Alicia Bugeja Said, who were found guilty of ethics breaches last year. He praised them for admitting their wrongdoing and returning the public funds involved.

“The same cannot be said for Prime Minister Robert Abela,” Cassola remarked, accusing Abela of refusing to apologise three times for an ethics breach related to a Facebook advert.

The Standards Commissioner offered to close the case if Abela apologised.

“The fish stinks from the head," Cassola added.