Fraud and scandal have become the hallmarks of the Labour government. Week after week, revelations surface about abuse of power, cronyism and the systematic plundering of public funds. The latest debacle involving former minister Clayton Bartolo’s wife, Amanda Muscat, exemplifies this rot at the core of our government.
However, this scandal is not an isolated incident. It is a symptom of a much larger culture of impunity that has been allowed to flourish on Labour’s watch. The people of Malta deserve a government that upholds integrity – not one that normalises corruption.
The facts which we all know about now are clear. In 2020, Bartolo appointed Muscat, his then girlfriend and secretary, as a ministry consultant – a role which the commissioner for standards in public life confirmed she was not qualified for and did not perform.
Her position was later shifted to the Gozo ministry under Clint Camilleri in 2021, where her salary ballooned to €68,000 annually, including a €20,000 “expertise allowance”. This allowance, meant only for exceptional circumstances, was a blatant misuse of taxpayer funds, in breach of the Manual on Resourcing, Policies and Procedure, and, to top it all, approved by the Office of the Prime Minister itself.
Despite her new title and inflated pay, Muscat continued performing secretarial duties for Bartolo, with no evidence that she undertook any consultancy work for either ministry. This glaring abuse was confirmed by the standards commissioner, who exposed how Muscat was handed public funds under false pretences and how these false pretences were known by everyone including the Office of the Prime Minister, which kept copying her in e-mails addressed to Bartolo even when she was officially listed as Camilleri’s consultant.
This would have been damning enough but it does not end there. Investigations by Malta’s anti-money laundering body, the FIAU, have flagged alleged kickbacks connected to another role Muscat took on in 2023. Payments totalling €50,000, made by a private company linked to a Malta Tourism Authority contractor, are suspected to be a quid pro quo arrangement for an MTA contract. If confirmed, this case not only represents a breach of ethical standards but potentially constitutes a criminal offence.
I had first started asking parliamentary questions on this contract more than a year ago, when officials from the Malta Tourism Authority flagged to me that this contract looked fishy.
Bartolo’s response to these findings – claiming “no one is perfect” – highlights the Labour government’s utter disregard for accountability. His resignation came only after public pressure and media scrutiny and not as a gesture of responsibility.
The role of the Gozo minister in this scandal cannot be overlooked. It was under his ministry that Muscat’s inflated salary and fabricated consultancy role were facilitated. The standards commissioner’s findings make it clear that this was not a case of oversight but a deliberate misuse of public funds.
It was Camilleri who tried to cover this abuse up. It was Camilleri and his head of secretariat, who, according to the commissioner, made false statements when he queried them.
To make matters worse, Camilleri has neither apologised nor demonstrated any remorse for his role in enabling this abuse. His silence only adds insult to injury for Maltese taxpayers. He kept claiming that he did nothing wrong as he followed the procedure in the manual for her recruitment.
Under Labour, public resources are treated as personal rewards for ministers and their allies- Mark Anthony Sammut
One has to remember that all ministers in this government have refused to publish who their consultants are and how much they are paid when repeatedly asked in parliament. Their only reply is that all their secretariat staff were engaged according to this manual. If this is the way they follow the manual, how many more cases like Muscat’s are there waiting to be uncovered?
The Nationalist Party has already promised that, when in government, it will limit the persons of trust that are to be engaged and be fully transparent about their role and contract.
As members of the standing committee for standards in public life, my colleague, Ryan Callus and I proposed that both Bartolo and Camilleri face suspension from parliament for 30 days, a standard penalty in cases of such abuse in other evolved democracies like the United Kingdom. We need to aspire to the highest levels of standards.
We also called for Camilleri to refund the €45,000 misused during the eight months he paid Muscat for consultancy work that was never delivered. Unfortunately, government MPs blatantly blocked these measures, shielding their colleagues and showing once again that corruption within their ranks is not only tolerated but protected.
This scandal is not unique. It reflects a broader trend within the Labour government, where public resources are treated as personal rewards for ministers and their allies. The alleged kickbacks linked to the Malta Tourism Authority only deepen the rot. If public funds are being funnelled into private hands under the guise of contracts, this is not just a failure of governance – it is a betrayal of the people’s trust.
The resignation of Bartolo is a step forward but it is far from enough. Camilleri must also resign for his role in enabling this scandal and attempting to cover it up.
The Labour government’s behaviour has made it clear that these are not isolated ‘mistakes’. These are planned and deliberate systems designed to serve the interests of the few at the expense of the many. The people of Malta deserve better. They deserve a government that respects their hard-earned money, upholds the rule of law and acts with integrity.
It is time to turn the page on Labour’s culture of corruption and demand a future built on accountability, honesty and respect for public service and the common good.
Mark Anthony Sammut is the Nationalist Party’s spokesperson on transport.