PN: Prime Minister must remove Justyne Caruana and other officials involved

The Nationalist Party had called for Prime Minister Robert Abela to remove Education Minister Justyne Caruana from her position.

This is the PN's second call for her removal. Furthermore, the party said that any public official involved should also be removed immediately.

On Tuesday, MPs on the ethics committee decided to publish the report compiled by Standards Commissioner George Hyzler that found Caruana breached ministerial ethics when she awarded a contract of service to her boyfriend, Daniel Bogdanovic.

The damning report found that Bogdanovic was tasked to carry out a study of the sports school, a job he was unsuitable to do. Moreover, Hyzler found that the report, for which Bogdanovic was to be paid €15,000, was compiled by Paul Debattista, a consultant to the minister.

In his reaction, Abela said that he would await the final verdict from parliament’s ethic’s committee before taking any action on Caruana.

He said he will not consider any temporary measures against Caruana because the Standards Commissioner's report “is not conclusive” and the matter now rests with parliament's ethics committee.

The PN said that it was shocking that the PM would defend Caruana, who had already been found guilty.

“The investigation into the case should have been started as soon as it was revealed by the media. This further confirms the irresponsibility of the prime minister in his defence of Caruana. You cannot have a minister being investigated by the police,” the party said.

The PN said a “truly free” Prime Minister would have learned from past mistakes.

READ MORE: Gozo minister scandal: Bogdanovic showed no knowledge of report he ‘authored’