[WATCH] FIAU Chairman appointed illegally, Bernard Grech says

Government broke the law when appointing new Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit Chairman Jesmon Gatt, the opposition has said.

Addressing a press conference, Nationalist Leader Bernard Grech said Gatt’s appointment last March did not conform with the Public Administration Act.

He said that before being appointed, a candidate for the role had to appear before the Public Appointment’s Committee, where he or she would be investigated by members

He was also supposed to be subjected to a public hearing in front of the committee, so it would determine the candidate’s viability for the role.

The opposition said Jesmond Gatt was not scrutinized before being appointed, therefore making his appointment illegal.

“This is not an attack on Jesmond Gatt, but a criticism on the PM’s lack of adherence to the law,” Grech said.

Also addressing the press conference, MP Karol Aquilina called on government to restart the process and appoint the FIAU Chairman through legal means.

Aquilina had shed light on the issue in parliament last week.

He said that in an effort to correct wrongdoings, Finance Minister Edward Scicluna sent a letter to the public appointments to scrutinize Gatt.

“This cannot be done. As the law stands, a name cannot be submitted after the person has already been elected,” he said.

He also said the candidate’s name should be forwarded by the PM, not the minister.  

“I am scandalised by the way government is approaching the issue. We are not speaking on someone who has a small job, this is a very important job which is tasked with preventing money laundering and criminality in our country,” Aquilina said.

The opposition said it finds no issue with Jesmond Gatt’s name being submitted.

“As long as the appointment is made legally, we have no objection with Gatt being scrutinized for the post,” they said.

Asked why they waited till November to flag the issue, the PN leader said that once the “illegal appointment” was brought to the opposition’s attention, it immediately flagged the issue.

“As they say, better late than never. Our main aim is to safe guard the country’s reputation,” he stated.