Prime Minister Robert Abela has praised Rosianne Cutajar for offering to resign as a junior minister, saying that in doing so she put “the country’s interests before her own”.

Abela was asked why, as prime minister, he was adamant on waiting for the outcome of an investigation by parliament’s standards commissioner before acting on Cutajar. He did not answer that question.

Cutajar said on Thursday that she would be resigning her cabinet post pending the outcome of that investigation, out of “respect for the Labour Party”.

The Labour MP is being investigated after Times of Malta revealed that she had earned tens of thousands of euro for brokering a property sale to business tycoon and murder suspect Yorgen Fenech. Times of Malta also reported that Cutajar had asked Fenech to help her organise a political survey in June 2019.

Both those exchanges happened after Fenech had been exposed as the owner of secret company 17 Black.

Cutajar insists she has never done business with Fenech. She nevertheless said she was stepping aside on Thursday, one day after NGO Repubblika staged a protest outside her offices and two months after Times of Malta first reported on her role in Fenech’s property purchase.

Left: Rosianne Cutajar, right: Yorgen Fenech.

'We take rule of law seriously'

Speaking on Saturday as he announced a reform of pre-1995 rent laws, Abela said that Cutajar’s offer to resign was “a clear example of how she was able to put the interests of the country before her own.”

Abela also took a dig at opposition leader Bernard Grech, saying that while Cutajar had stepped aside pending the investigation, Grech “still has people like Adrian Delia, Jason Azzopardi, Kristy Debono and Hermann Schiavone surrounding him, and he has not taken any decisive action against any of them.”

“This shows a clear difference between the way we behave and take the rule of law seriously, and contrasts greatly with what the opposition is doing,” the prime minister stated.

Aquilina attempted to deliver an envelope to Cutajar as part of Repubblika's protest. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

Standards Commissioner George Hyzler has not committed to a deadline on wrapping up his investigation into Cutajar.

'The Commissioner has his hands tied' - Cassola

Academic Arnold Cassola, who filed the request for Hyzler to investigate the claims, said on Saturday that he feared the investigation would prove to be sham due to time-barring constraints.

Cassola said the commissioner’s hands “are tied” due to a legal clause in the standards commissioner’s act which prevents any investigation into any misdeed dating back more than 12 months.

“You either report them within those twelve months or else they get away with murder,” he said.

“Rest assured: Rosianne Cutajar will be found guilty of not having declared this income in her returns. And Hyzler will then send a 100-page recommendation to parliament for suggested reforms,” Cassola predicted.

“But, there will be no condemnation of Rosianne for her dealings with a person she knew to be the owner of 17 Black and a briber of politicians.

“Two years ago, parliament unanimously ensured that the backs of the dirty parliamentarians be well covered for past, present and future misdeeds,” Cassola said.