The prime minister has invoked proscription to stop a Standards Commissioner investigation into his undeclared €180,000 utilised for the purchase of land in Xewkija, according to the Momentum party leader.

Arnold Cassola said Robert Abela had written to the commissioner, pointing to the proscription period and saying that respecting statutory terms constituted a matter of public order.  

The commissioner, Judge Emeritus Joseph Azzopardi, reluctantly gave up the investigation while commenting that the proscription period was too short and should be extended, Cassola, who had requested the investigation. 

"When a Prime Minister resorts to the proscription term to avoid being investigated for wrongdoing, this is the biggest admission that he has committed wrongdoing.

"Malta is really in a sorry state when its Prime Minister has to resort to the tactics of a criminal lawyer in court to avoid full transparency on his behaviour. In these five years, the lawyer Robert Abela has never understood what being a Prime Minister of all the people means," Cassola said. 

The commissioner's report in full can be seen in the PDF below.