Misleading answers to parliamentary questions should be investigated by the Speaker of the House, the standards commissioner has ruled.

Commissioner Joseph Azzopardi reached that conclusion after he was asked to investigate Education Minister Clifton Grima's answer to a parliamentary question.  

Grima was alleged to have misled parliament when asked to publish an audit that gave the all-clear for the American University of Malta to have its operating licence extended for five more years.

Instead of publishing the audit, the minister made reference to a website, saying the report was available there. That was untrue, independent candidate Arnold Cassola argued.

“The minister misled the parliament and Maltese citizens," Cassola wrote in his complaint to the standards commissioner.  

In his decision, published on Friday, standards commissioner Joseph Azzopardi said the ministerial code of ethics states that ministers should give correct information to parliament.  

However, the Standing Orders of the House of Representatives state that issues related to the running of the House fall under the remit of the Speaker.   

The standards commissioner's role is to investigate violations of the ministerial code of ethics, while the speaker's role is to preside over the House of Representatives.  

This overlap can lead to a situation where both the speaker and the standard's commissioner choose not to intervene in a case to protect each other's jurisdiction, the standards commissioner acknolewdged.   

"This office (standards commissioner) felt that such situations should be avoided," he said. 

As a result, the standards commissioner and Speaker met to discuss the issue. This was followed by correspondence between the two, with the Speaker saying that issues related to misleading the parliament should be left to him.  

"Issues related to the running of the House and therefore all that is related to parliamentary procedure should fall under the scope of the House".  

Article 69 of the Constitution says clearly that the Speaker presides over every sitting of the House, Speaker Anġlu Farrugia said.   

In his concluding remarks, the standards commissioner said that his office has no basis to investigate the claim.   

In a press release, Arnold Cassola said that the standards commissioner was "washing his hands" of investigating misleading answers to ministerial parliamentary questions. 

"We wait to see whether the honourable Speaker will take immediate action on this particular case and swift action on future such matters, or whether we remain stuck in limbo with no authority taking action and with ministers left free to mislead with their parliamentary answers,” Cassola said.