PN hits out at Standards czar’s light touch on Dalli ethics probe

The Nationalist Party has taken to task the Commissioner for Standards after refusing to review a decision on an ethics probe on environment minister Miriam Dalli, accusing Judge Joseph Azzopardi of turning the office into “another institution that does not work in the public interest.”

Azzopardi decided not to pursue further action against Miriam Dalli, save for an apology over a “partisan” government statement issued by her ministry.

Azzopardi however found that the minister breached the ministerial code of ethics by allowing the statement to be issued.

The complaint was filed by the Nationalist Party in February 2024 over a press statement issued via the Department of Information (DOI) to hit back at criticism by the PN about projects led by Dalli’s ministry in the Cottonera region.

While Dalli argued that the statement was meant to provide factual information about various projects in the south of Malta, by drawing comparisons with past PN governments, she apologised for the partisan tone of the statement.

But the PN later insisted that the Commissioner had committed a “significant error” by closing the case with a mere request for an apology.

Azzopardi on his part reasoned that when a similar ethics probe recommended further action on am incident involving Minister Silvio Schembri in 2021, Dalli was back then not a minister.

Shadow minister for justice Karol Aquina said Judge Azzopardi’s reasoning was a “major mistake.”

While the Standards Commissioner found that Dalli statement had deviated from the standards expected of government communications, thereby breaching the ethics code for failing to uphold political impartiality, Azzopardi had excused Dalli from further consequences, citing her non-executive status at the time.

“Although, after drawing his attention, Azzopardi had to admit that he had made a serious mistake in his report on Miriam Dalli, the Commissioner for Standards has today refused to review the way in which he closed the case,” Aquilina said.

“The Nationalist Party recalls that, in the same report, Commissioner Joseph Azzopardi found Dalli guilty of breaching articles 4.9, 4.10 and 7.4 of the Code of Ethics… with today’s decision, the Commissioner is protecting Dalli from the consequences that should result from his own report.

“With this behaviour, the Commissioner is becoming part of the system of impunity that has brought our country to its knees. It’s clear to everyone how right the Opposition was in voting against the appointment of Chief Justice Emeritus Joseph Azzopardi as Commissioner for Standards in Public Life,” Aquilina said.

“Our country needs and deserves a Commissioner for Standards in Public Life who requires the Prime Minister, Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries to bear responsibility for the abuses they commit, and not to see how to get them off the hook.”