A taxpayer-funded video of Prime Minister Robert Abela in Gozo was “the type of propaganda that takes place during an election”, Standards Commissioner Joseph Azzopardi told a parliamentary committee looking into the issue on Monday afternoon.
In the 37-second clip, Abela can be seen meeting and greeting people across Gozo whilst visiting sites of several government-funded projects. The video cost €700.
“All you see is the PM going around Gozo, mostly on his own, speaking to people and having coffee with them,” Azzopardi said, rebutting a suggestion that the clip could have been used to provide the public with information about the projects.
Describing this as a “venial breach, given the small amount of money involved”, the standards commissioner described how the Prime Minister’s refusal to apologise had prompted him to refer the matter to the Standards in Public Life Committee.
Earlier this year, a report by the commissioner into the case found that Abela had breached parliamentary ethics, calling on the PM to issue an apology. Abela refused, arguing that his rights to a fair hearing had been breached.
A screengrab from the video showing Abela having coffee with a member of the public. Screengrab: MaltaGov
The video also shows Abela visiting government projects accompanied by Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri. Screengrab: MaltaGov
A similar breach of ethics by Finance Minister Clyde Caruana was resolved more amicably last year, with Caruana offering an apology and refunding the money spent.
Asked by PN MP Mark Anthony Sammut why he had not recommended that the PM refund the money in this case, Azzopardi replied that his office had adopted an identical stance in both cases.
“I thought that the case would be closed with an apology and a promise not to do it again. In the case of Clyde Caruana, he decided to refund the money of his own steam.”
‘Ethics go beyond the law’
Much of the meeting was taken up by a discussion over whether the commissioner’s report relied upon the guidelines for political advertising or whether the video would have still constituted a breach even if the guidelines didn’t exist.
“Ultimately, ethics go beyond the law,” Azzopardi said. “You can breach ethics without breaking the law. The guidelines don’t cover everything and the report doesn’t rely on the guidelines”.
Justice Minister Jonathan Attard, in a brief intervention, called on the committee to find “practical ways” for ethics to be safeguarded while “also respecting the work and duties of MPs”.
“We’ve gone from an extreme where, under previous administrations, MPs used to send people magazines with their picture on the front page, like Forbes, to a situation where members of the executive can barely appear in any content,” he said.