The findings of an investigation into whether Robert Abela breached ethics in a Facebook video produced last year have been referred to the parliamentary Standards Committee, an indication that an ethics breach has been confirmed by the Standards Commissioner.
The investigation report has not yet been published, but, on Monday, commissioner Joseph Azzopardi sent it to parliament to be discussed by MPs in the Standards in Public Life committee - a procedure that is followed when the commissioner finds a breach.
The investigation was triggered by a complaint filed by independent candidate Arnold Cassola last year.
He had claimed that a video uploaded to the MaltaGov Facebook page in February was taxpayer-funded propaganda for the prime minister.
The 37-second video - still available online - is titled "Prime Minister Robert Abela visits a number of projects in Gozo". It shows Abela meeting and greeting people and children in village squares, shops, offices, schools, workplaces and construction sites, complete with background music.
According to ethics regulations, adverts and promotional material produced by the government or public entities should not include partisan content.
Pictures of ministers, or even their names featuring in government adverts, will see them fall foul of the rules.
Ethics regulations allow politicians to use public funds to share information of public interest, but not to promote themselves or boost their image.
In a statement published on Monday, Cassola said the mere fact that the report was sent to parliament showed that "the Prime Minister is guilty of breach of ethics".
The report can only be released after the parliamentary committee agrees to do so.
The Opposition's MPs on the committee - Mark Anthony Sammut and Ryan Callus - told Times of Malta on Tuesday they had informed the committee that they were willing to meet on Tuesday or Wednesday to give the go-ahead for publication of the report as soon as possible, as is usually the practice. But efforts to convene a meeting have so far been in vain.
"Minister Jonathan Attard and Parliamentary Secretary Andy Ellul have so far told us they are unavailable. We have suggested the appointment of substitute MPs for an urgent meeting, so as not to leave the report under wraps for long, but so far there has been no reply,” Sammut said.
Times of Malta asked the Office of the Speaker to provide a copy of the report but a spokesperson said it was not yet a public document, and only the committee could decide on publication.
Last year, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana was found to have committed a "minor" breach of ministerial ethics over a social media advert. The advert featured a picture of him next to a quote from one of his speeches.
Caruana apologised for the breach and decided to refund the €99 used to design and promote the post on Facebook, which meant no further action was needed against him.
A significant breach was found in 2021, when the former Standards Commissioner found that adverts published by then-minister Carmelo Abela breached ethics because they were intended to boost his image.
The printed advertisements appeared in national newspapers and depicted Abela accompanied by slogans.
That campaign had cost taxpayers more than €7,000 and could not be considered to be informative or of interest to the public to merit being paid for through public funds, the Standards Commissioner had found.