Owen Bonnici’s position as minister responsible for the arts is no longer tenable after a sexual harassment scandal within the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) happened under his watch, the opposition said.

“Owen Bonnici must assume political responsibility and resign,” PN spokesperson Julie Zahra said in a statement on Saturday.

The call came hours after MPO’s CEO Sigmund Mifsud was charged in court with attempted tampering of evidence after he allegedly instructed employees to keep quiet about a sexual harassment scandal.

An MPO official was last week arraigned for sexually harassing a member of the national orchestra. The court heard that the victim had reported the assault to her superiors but it had been ignored, forcing her to leave her post.

The Nationalist Party asked how Bonnici chose to remain silent about the case, and only admitted that an investigation was underway, when news of the assault broke in the media.

The PN said the minister himself had even called a particular newsroom to try to "control" the story.

Zahra asked how a government minister can fail to take immediate steps to make public an accusation of sexual harassment in an entity under his responsibility and of failing to take the necessary steps to protect the victim.

Instead, the minister remained passive, with the victim being left with no choice other than to resign, as she could no longer suffer this abuse.

The opposition recalled that Sigmund Mifsud was a Labour Party candidate in the general election of 2013 and 2017 and was appointed as a person of trust under Joseph Muscat’s leadership, and still holds that position under the current prime minister.

The Nationalist Party asked the prime minister if he is comfortable in the knowledge that one of his ministers has hidden news of the sexual abuse instead of taking immediate action.

Meanwhile, the Culture Ministry accused the opposition of turning the matter into a political football. 

There was no reason to resort to partisanship when an issue of sexual harassment at work was being discussed, it said in a counter statement. 

"The opposition needs to decide which route it's going to take. A few days ago it said there was impunity and now that people have been arraigned it is accusing the ministry of failing to act beforehand." 

The ministry said action had been taken at once and all media questions were answered in the most transparent ways. 

"The institutions worked and they derived results. The government will continue working to strengthen the cultural sector."