Updated 5.38pm, adds Prime Minister's statement

The leaders of two separate political parties have both asked the Standards Commissioner to investigate whether the Prime Minister breached ethical codes when he refused to answer media questions about how he had paid for a holiday to Dubai.

On Tuesday, Joseph Muscat dismissed questions about how he funded expensive flights for his whole family during a three-day holiday in Dubai, saying only that the trip was paid for using his "personal private funds".

The flights are estimated to have cost over €15,000. 

Democratic Party interim leader Timothy Alden wrote to Commissioner for Standards in Public Life George Hyzler on Tuesday, asking him to investigate the trip and noting that the prime minister had declared the exact same €75,000 bank balance for four consecutive years. 

On Wednesday, Nationalist Party Adrian Delia said he too had contacted Dr Hyzler and asked him to investigate. 

Dr Delia referred to both parliamentary and ministerial codes of ethics, which mention the acceptance of gifts by MPs or ministers.

He said he was willing to help and collaborate with Dr Hyzler in the investigation.

Dr Delia’s letter to Dr Hyzler can be read in the pdf link below.

Prime Minister's statement

In a statement later, the Prime Minister said the Opposition leader's statement was based on speculations and suppositions.

The Opposition leader had come to the wrong conclusion that he (the Prime Minister) had accepted a gift or breached the code of ethics.

Dr Muscat said he did not have a problem collaborating with the Commissioner, as he had always done with all institutions.

He noted that the Opposition leader was quick to request an investigation on others, but had still not requested an investigation about himself and the grievous money-laundering allegations made about him.

 

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.