MPs not duty-bound to tell the truth, standards commissioner rules
Standards report finds Claudette Buttigieg made misleading claims over a proposed incinerator, but honesty is not part of MPs’ ethics code
Updated 6.20pm
MPs are not bound by duty to tell the truth, the standards commissioner has ruled, throwing out a complaint filed by Wasteserv against PN MP Claudette Buttigieg over claims about a proposed incinerator.
In the complaint, Wasteserv CEO Richard Bilocca argued that Buttigieg had misrepresented the findings of an environmental impact assessment of a proposed Magħtab incinerator, claiming it found towns within a six-kilometre radius of the incinerator would experience negative impacts.
The commissioner agreed with Bilocca, saying the study had found that the impacts on these towns would be negligible. A Times of Malta fact-check published earlier this year had reached a similar conclusion.
Ultimately, the commissioner said Buttigieg had “intentionally or otherwise, presented a false picture of the study”.
Although questioning the study’s validity or impartiality is legitimate, “there is a clear difference between raising questions about the study and painting a false picture of what it says”.
Ministers have to tell the truth, but not MPs
Nevertheless, the commissioner’s report says, this does not constitute a breach of ethics, since “the obligation of honesty is only found in the code of ethics for ministers”.
“For some inexplicable reason, this obligation was not included in the code of ethics for MPs,” the commissioner said.
“This appears to mean that an MP who is not a minister does not have a duty to tell the truth,” the commissioner concluded drily, closing the case.
Proposals by the commissioner’s office to close several gaps in the existing code of ethics, including the lack of an obligation towards honesty, have yet to be implemented, the commissioner said.
“Had these recommendations been implemented, the outcome of this complaint could have been different,” he said.
The commissioner also pointed to Buttigieg having made several of her claims about the study in parliament, where she is protected by parliamentary privilege.
In a statement, WasteServ said the commissioner’s findings “reinforce WasteServ’s position that inaccurate and misleading claims about the ECOHIVE Project and the TTF have contributed to unnecessary public alarm”.
“WasteServ has consistently maintained that independent studies, including the ongoing Environmental Impact Assessment, demonstrate that the facility will not negatively impact air quality and will deliver net environmental benefits for Malta,” the company said.
Environment Minister Miriam Dalli made it clear she was not happy with the case outcome.
"All MPs - the people's representatives - should be obliged to tell the truth. We can't have MPs who speak falsehoods and get away with it. It's not the first time PN MPs did this," she said.