Opposition MP Jason Azzopardi on Monday presented a private member’s bill he claims was ignored by PN leader Adrian Delia, to outlaw the use of private e-mail servers and other unofficial means of communication for government work.
The MP said the bill would act as a strong deterrent against corruption and he therefore could not wait any longer to present it.
Azzopardi’s bill proposes that anyone who makes use of private e-mail servers or other private means of communication for official duties would be liable to imprisonment for between one to eight years.
Taking a swipe at Delia, Azzopardi said after presenting the bill, that it had been presented to the PN leader in November 2017 for his go-ahead to present to parliament.
Azzopardi said reminders about the bill in 2018, 2019 and the beginning of this year were all in vain.
Other bills had also been drafted in November 2017, but they were never discussed in the parliamentary group, let alone presented to parliament, the MP said.
“The time has come to show how much work was carried out behind the scenes. Unfortunately, there were those who wanted to keep this hidden to perpetuate the lie that they were not being given the space to work”.
The National Audit Office has over the past years lamented the lack of paper trails for many of the multi-million-euro deals reached by the government.
The use of unofficial communication channels makes it harder for the Auditor General as well as law enforcement bodies to investigate the actions of public officials.
Former prime minister Joseph Muscat was found to have used a Gmail account soon to negotiate a €4.2 million bailout for the owners of the Café Premier site in Valletta.
Azzopardi accused Muscat of using a private e-mail server to cover his tracks right up until January 2020.
The MP observed that the Auditor General had been critical of Muscat’s use of a Gmail account to conduct government business.
Azzopardi said various other ministers resorted to the same practice.
He said it was clear this was done so that proof of their “actions or corrupt decisions” could not be found.