Updated 3.15pm with Momentum statement
Parliament’s Standards Commissioner has urged the prime minister to table ministers’ declarations of assets for 2023 “as soon as possible”.
In a letter to Robert Abela, Commissioner Joseph Azzopardi also encouraged the government to expand parliament’s asset declaration system in line with OECD recommendations.
Azzopardi wrote to Abela after the prime minister asked him for his views on reforming the asset declaration system.
Currently, ministers and parliamentary secretaries file two yearly asset declarations. One, providing a general overview of their income, is filed with parliament. The second, which is more detailed, is given to the cabinet secretary.
While it is customary for the prime minister to table ministers’ asset declarations in parliament, Abela failed to do so last year and has ignored media requests to do so.
Two weeks ago, political party Momentum asked parliament's standards commissioner to investigate ministers for having failed to table their asset declarations.
Through party leader Arnold Cassola, Momentum noted that declarations should have been tabled in March 2024. The failure to do so was "testimony to [ministers'] arrogant disrespect towards transparency and the citizen."
The prime minister subsequently said he wanted to reform the system to encompass all MPs, without providing any further detail. The pledge sparked concerns that the government intends to water down ministers’ legal obligations.
Asset declarations have resulted in one current minister, Silvio Schembri, being the subject of a private citizen's request for a magisterial inquiry. Lawyer and former MP Jason Azzopardi argued in his application that Schembri's spending does not tally with the income he declared.
In his letter, the standards Commissioner emphasised that there should be no reduction in the information that ministers are obliged to declare. He noted that ministers are currently obliged to declare their income, although ordinary MPs are not. Having a common declaration form for all MPs should not result in this requirement being dropped, the commissioner said.
He noted that the OECD had made recommendations about how to reform the current system in 2023. In that report, the organisation advised Malta to extend asset declarations to persons of trust, introduce a formal method for MPs to declare conflicts of interest and gifts received, and extend the amount of information made available in asset declarations.
In his letter to the prime minister, the Commissioner said the OECD report should be the “point of departure” for any reform of the system.
Reform should not be rushed and civil society and the public should be consulted on it, he added.
In a brief statement, Momentum general secretary Mark Camilleri Gambin thanked the Standards Commissioner for having followed up on the party's request so promptly.
'PN proven right': Opposition
In a reaction, the PN said the commissioner's report "vindicated" the Opposition and obliged Abela to immediately publish his asset declaration, along with those of his ministers and parliamentary secretaries.
"This is yet another confirmation that Abela is a prime minister who has completely abandoned the principles of transparency, accountability, and good governance," shadow minister for justice Karol Aquilina said in a statement.
"Abela is abusing his position to keep secret information that is necessary for him, his ministers and his parliamentary secretaries to be held under public scrutiny and accountable for their actions."
Only those who did not wish to combat corruption and abuse of power behaved in this manner, Aquilina added.