Opposition calls for a change in the composition of the parliamentary standards committee were dismissed by the prime minister on Thursday.

Opposition leader Bernard Grech has proposed that the committee should be composed of an MP each from the government and the opposition and three other members chosen with the support of a two-thirds majority of the House, with one of them in the chair.

The committee is currently chaired by the Speaker and has two members each from the government and the opposition.

Grech, speaking in parliament on Monday, accused the Speaker of invariably casting his vote for the government when there was a tie in the committee, letting politicians easily off the hook when they are found in breach of ethics by the standards commissioner and undermining the mechanism to hold MPs to account. 

Replying to Times of Malta questions, Abela said the legislation setting up the standards committee was approved unanimously in 2017, but it had now become the norm for the opposition to want heads to roll or change the law when it disagreed with decisions that were taken.

“We cannot have a situation where when something does not go in the opposition’s favour they say that the institutions are not working and propose changes. I think that the Standards Commissioner is doing a good job and standards have risen,” Abela said.