The Commissioner for Standards in Public Life insisted on Monday that his role is to bring about change and he did not entertain any arguments by people under investigation that they were only doing what had been done for years.

Speaking before the House Business Committee, George Hyzler also defended his appointment as a former politician, saying that decision had clearly been taken because the holder of the post needed to understand how politics and politicians worked.

Hyzler served as a Nationalist Party MP between 1995 and 2003. 

Labour MP Glen Bedingfield last month repeatedly insisted that the appointment of a former politician undermined the credibility of the office, which he accused of being partisan in its actions.

Prime Minister Robert Abela on April 27 said he agreed with calls for a discussion on making former MPs ineligible for the post of Commissioner on Standards in Public Life.

Hyzler said parliament’s decision to appoint a standards commissioner transmitted the message that the political class wanted to be held accountable, that it should be subject to regulations that should be enforceable.

“By definition, my role cannot be a popular one,” Hyzler said.

“The focus is obviously more on the government than the opposition, that is clear, but this office has been criticised by both sides,” he said

Raising standards meant bringing about change, and any defence that ‘this is what has been done for years’ did not hold water, he argued.

“Nor is it justified as a defence to tell me that ‘you acted in this way too’.   The reason why someone from the political sphere was chosen for this role was precisely because a former politician can understand the context, and reasons for an MPs behaviour and the way politics works,” Hyzler said.

Hyzler said he wanted to be “the voice of common sense” and a point of reference where issues could also be discussed informally, apart from the regular investigations demanded by law.  

He spoke on the way he went about investigations and explained that since he was the first holder of the office, he had to set up his office and recruit people quickly.

Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne in his comments warned that the Standards Office would lose respect if it was perceived as being used as a political tool. The office needed to be seen to be impartial and investigate only what needed to be investigated.   

Justice Minister Edward Zammit Lewis continued in the same vein, saying the Standards Commissioner should not launch an investigation simply on the basis of somebody’s complaint based solely on what he had read on Facebook. He also complained about leaks of the commissioner’s reports to the media and said MPs handed such reports needed to act responsibly.

Bedingfield said rules should apply equally for all those in public life, not just MPs. He reiterated his view that the commission of standards should not be a former MP as this undermined people's respect.

He said the commissioner should be an official of parliament, under the rule of the House as exercised by the Speaker. 

Other speakers included Nationalist MPs David Agius and Joe Ellis who praised the office for the work it had carried out in difficult circumstances.  

The meeting was presided by Speaker Anġlu Farrugia who said that when court proceedings were underway or likely, one needed to avoid conflicts that disturbed the rule of law between one institution or another.

He also said that investigations, such as that involving former Parliament Secretary Rosianne Cutajar needed to be concluded as soon as possible to avoid uncertainty.