Prime Minister Robert Abela agrees with calls for a discussion on making former MPs ineligible for the post of Commissioner on Standards in Public Life.

Abela was replying to a question during an unrelated press conference on Tuesday amid criticism by Labour MP Glenn Bedingfield last week addressed at the commissioner, George Hyzler, a former Nationalist parliamentary secretary.

The prime minister stopped short of criticising the commissioner. He said this was an important post and one should always consider improvement, including holding a discussion on whether former MPs should be made ineligible for the post.

On the possibility of having a committee of judges to evaluate reports by the commissioner, Abela said he personally disagreed.

Asked about the citizenship scheme following media reports last week on how conditions for eligibility were circumvented,  the prime minister lauded the financial benefits of the scheme, including the way how, he said, it contributed to the  government efforts to support society during the pandemic. 

“We cannot continue to have this targeted attack on the country,” he said, insisting that the due diligence process introduced in the IIP programme was robust.  

He said the latest revelations exposed by a consortium of media organisations were "an old story with a bit of new flavour".

Abela noted that even the opposition was no longer saying that the programme should be closed.

“This is a programme that generated €1,500 million. Let’s not hurt it,” he said.