Rosianne Cutajar resigns pending ethics probe into relationship with Yorgen Fenech

Updated at 3:45pm with resignation letter

Rosianne Cutajar has offered to resign from her post as Parliamentary Secretary pending the outcome of an investigation before the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life. 

Announcing the resignation on Facebook, Cutajar insisted that she has never done business with Yorgen Fenech, and that she cut off all contact with him once he was charged with masterminding the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

"Let me be clear: throughout the years I've known Yorgen Fenech, I never used any of my political appointments to influence any process or decision. I have never asked to do so, and even if I were asked, I would have never gone against the pact of trust I had with you," she wrote.

"In the future, I will defend my name in the most convincing and honest way. I am doing this out of respect to the Labour Party, in which I have been working in for the last ten years and because I want the Government to continue to work in serenity."

"At a time when it is becoming clear that this is a country where justice and the rule of law reign, I will not allow anyone to use me to try and attack the Labour Government and destroy the good we are bringing to the country. I will not allow any false and malicious allegations to obscure the reforms that we have been working on for so long and that we will carry out for the good of all Maltese and Gozitans."

Prime Minister Robert Abela accepted Cutajar's resignation offer, pending the conclusion of the ethics investigations.

Last December, MaltaToday reported that Cutajar and her political aide Charlie Farrugia allegedly received some €100,000 in brokers' fees for the sale of a €3.1 million Mdina property to Yorgen Fenech.

Cutajar and Farrugia are said to have claimed for themselves a finder's fee of €50,000 each.

Repubblika reacts

Civil society NGO Repubblika issued a statement of satisfaction given news of the resignation, but went a step further and called for her to resign from parliament and exit public live.

"However, it is still a positive step that Rosianne Cutajar is no longer a member of government. Prime Minister Robert Abela lost an opportunity to signal demands for good governance after refusing to dismiss Rosianne Cutajar himself," the NGO said.

READ ALSO: Bernard Grech accuses Prime Minister of weakness on Rosianne Cutajar's ‘temporary’ resignation