Abela nominates former judges for ombudsman, standards commissioner posts

Updated with PN and PL's statement

Prime Minister Robert Abela has nominated two former judges for the vacant positions of Commissioner for Standards in Public Life and an Ombudsman.

The prime minister has proposed Chief Justice Emeritus Joseph Azzopardi for the position of commissioner for standards in public life while Judge Emeritus Joseph Zammit McKeon is the candidate put forth for the position of ombudsman.

Abela put forward two motions in parliament for their appointment. 

In a government statement, he insisted that both candidates have the qualifications, experience, integrity and skills required to fill these two positions.

In addition to initially supporting the nominations as they are laid out in the two motions, the Opposition Leader is also willing to accept that the former chief judge can hold a constitutional position, said Abela.

However, sources close to the Nationalist Party told MaltaToday that the PN doesn’t agree with this nomination due to the huge backlog of court cases Joseph Azzopardi had as chief justice. “The PN doesn’t want a Standards Commissioner that would fall behind his work load,” the source said.

On Wednesday, the Nationalist Party expressed its disappointment over the Prime Minister’s “refusal” to not reach a compromise on the appointment of a new Standards Commissioner.

Both posts require cross-party support since candidates are appointed by a two-thirds majority in parliament.

The PN said that it would be agreeing with a motion to have retired judge Joseph Zammit McKeon as the new Ombudsman but lamented that the PM would not budge on the appointment of former chief justice Joseph Azzopardi as new Standards Commissioner.

PN opposes the nomination of Chief Justice Emeritus Joseph Azzopardi as Standards Commissioner

The government and Opposition did not agree on Chief Justice Emeritus Joseph Azzopardi as Commissioner of Standard nominee, said PN.

“We were clear from the start,” said the PN, when it declared agreement with the appointment of the Ombudsman, but opposed the nomination for the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life.

In fact, Opposition itself had asked for a motion to be put forward for Joseph Zammit McKeon to be appointed Ombudsman while the Opposition called for the discussions to continue to reach an agreement on the Commissioner for Standards.

“Government putting forward a motion regarding the Standards Commissioner without an agreement with Opposition confirms the arrogance of Prime Minister Robert Abela,” said the party.

PN accused Abela of preventing conversations about significant appointments between the two sides of the House for months resulting in matters submitted to the Commissioner remaining neglected.

Labour Party stated that it is still awaiting a convincing justification from PN

In reaction to the PN's press release, the Labour Party stated that it is still awaiting a convincing justification for the PN's opposition to be against the appointment of the Standards Commissioner.

PL insisted that Opposition Leader Bernard Grech already accepted this nominee and he was ready to accept the same person in other constitutional roles.

READ ALSO: Ex-judges touted for ombudsman, standards commissioner posts