Former parliamentary speaker and Labour candidate Myriam Spiteri Debono is one of three people the Nationalist Party is proposing as the next standards commissioner, sources told Times of Malta.
Opposition leader Bernard Grech has officially written to Prime Minister Robert Abela urging him to consider Spiteri Debono, former judge Silvio Meli or former Air Malta CEO Philip Micallef for the role of standards commissioner.
Abela has been insisting that the role, which was previously held by George Hyzler, would be best filled by former chief justice Joseph Azzopardi but the opposition has doubts about the level of Azzopardi’s “efficiency”.
The sources said that, in reply to Grech, Abela shot down all three PN proposed nominees, insisting Azzopardi would be the best choice.
Who are the three nominees?
A notary by profession, Spiteri Debono was a Labour activist and electoral candidate in the 1980s and 1990s and served as the first woman speaker of parliament from 1996 to 1998.
She frequently spoke out against partisan politics and more recently urged national redemption after the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
Meli was first appointed magistrate in 1990 and, during his tenure, served as a member of the Council of Europe’s Multi-disciplinary Group on Corruption, helping, among others, with the drafting of a model code of conduct for public officials.
Micallef is a former CEO of Air Malta, Melita Cable and Malta Enterprise and a former chief officer of France Telecom and Olivetti.
It is understood that the opposition had originally proposed retired judge Joseph Zammit McKeon for the role of standards commissioner but the government opposed the idea, suggesting that he should be appointed ombudsman instead.
Both parties agreed on Zammit McKeon’s appointment as ombudsman but discussions over who should be standards commissioner ended in stalemate.
The same sources yesterday said that the PN is worried Abela is set on appointing someone who would not be as effective and efficient as needed to investigate ethical issues within government.
The prime minister has, however, insisted on the nominations, arguing Azzopardi and Zammit McKeon are both eminently qualified for their respective proposed roles.
A law allowing government to appoint its own nominee
Meanwhile, last week, the government published details of a new bill that will allow it to appoint a standards commissioner without the need for a two-thirds majority in parliament.
The anti-deadlock mechanism that the government wants to introduce would allow MPs to appoint a standards commissioner by a simple majority if two initial votes fail to garner a two-thirds majority.
Each of those three votes would have to be held within seven days of the previous one, according to the legal text being proposed by the government.
Currently, the standards commissioner, whose job it is to investigate complaints and disciplinary issues concerning members of parliament, must be elected through a two-thirds majority vote in parliament.
How would the anti-deadlock mechanism work?
The proposed bill – which only needs a simple majority to be passed into law – would still set a two-thirds majority vote rule when appointing a new standards commissioner.
But if, after a second vote held within seven days of the first, two-thirds of MPs are unable to agree on a name, then the appointment could go through with a simple majority on the third vote, held within seven days of the second vote.
The proposed law would also allow new candidates to be nominated between the second and third votes.
Government critics fear the law will allow Abela to appoint Azzopardi as standards commissioner, effectively bypassing the two-thirds majority requirement.
This is particularly dangerous in the case of a standards commissioner, critics argue, because the person tasked with the job will be investigating government MPs.
'Prime Minister behaving like a dictator'
Reacting to the government’s proposal, the Nationalist Party accused the prime minister of behaving like a dictator and insisted he should instead be working towards finding cross-party consensus on who should occupy the role of standards commissioner.
The government’s position, the PN said, is a confirmation of Abela’s “dangerous” politics that he wields in an attempt to control everyone and everything.
“Robert Abela does not believe that the role of standards commissioner should be occupied by a person with investigative skills as well as possess the determination and moral fibre to uncover and put a stop to abuse,” the PN said.
It accused Abela of “striking a deal” to appoint a specific person in the role despite the person not being the best for the role.
Rule of law NGO Repubblika also criticised the proposed law and has implied the government sought to quietly table the law during a holiday period when people were distracted by Christmas.
Sources said the law was published in the government gazette just over the stipulated period of seven days before it can be discussed in parliament, effectively allowing the government to quickly start the process to get it through parliament as soon as MPs reconvene after the Christmas recess on Monday.
On the other hand, there is widespread consensus that anti-deadlock mechanisms are needed to ensure parties in opposition in parliament do not block and freeze appointments by refusing to endorse any nominees.
The Council of Europe’s Venice Commission, a body of rule of law experts which advised Malta on how to strengthen its democracy through law, had recommended introducing an anti-deadlock mechanism for the appointment of presidents and chief justices.
It had suggested a mechanism that would function in the same way as that which the government is proposing to introduce for the appointment of standards commissioners.
In 2010, former Nationalist member of parliament Franco Debono had proposed an anti-deadlock mechanism when reforming the two-thirds majority for the president’s appointment.
Debono had suggested that, to avoid a constitutional deadlock, parliament should resort to at least an absolute majority.