Simon Busuttil calls for immediate appointment of new Commissioner

Nationalist MEP Simon Busuttil urged the government to nominate a new European Commissioner "as soon as possible."

Speaking on Radio Malta this morning, the MEP said that John Dalli should be given the opportunity to clear his name, however he added: "There is no doubt that Dalli's resignation damaged Malta's reputation at a European level and the void must be filled in straight away."

This week, Malta's EU Commissioner John Dalli tendered his resignation following an investigation by the EU's anti-fraud division, OLAF, into an alleged bribery attempt in relation to the new EU directive on tobacco.

Busuttil stressed that Malta should fill in the void created by Dalli's resignation "to make sure that the EU has a full compliment of Commissioners."  The MEP pointed out that Malta cannot afford to wait any longer to nominate a new Commissioner.

His call was backed by Nationalist MP Francis Zammit Dimech who insisted that the news of Dalli's resignation came as a shock and added that "there should be no compromise in dealing with who damaged Malta's international reputation."

Zammit Dimech said: "The new Commissioner should be appointed immediately to close this chapter and restore Malta's reputation."

Labour deputy-leader Toni Abela echoed calls for caution in appointing a new Commissioner and said that the person could also be picked from outside the local political scene.

Abela said that following this week's events, the political class has lost credibility. He added that unlike Malta where there is no culture of resignations, it is the norm at a European level to resign before the allegations levelled against a politician are proved right or wrong.

Alternattiva Demokratika spokesperson and former European Green Party secretary-general Arnold Cassola also backed the calls for an immediate appointment. However, Cassola said: "The worst disservice possible would be that of appointing a new Commissioner according to political allegiances."

The AD spokesperson insisted that the choice of a new Commissioner should be based on national consensus between all parties.

On Dalli's resignation, he noted that it is still early to judge whether the outgoing Commissioner was right in tendering his resignation since the findings of the OLAF report are still unknown.

Labour MEP Edward Scicluna expressed his disappointment on the current public debate on the new Commissioner. He pressed his case for the appointment of a technocrat "with an outstanding international reputation. I know there are several Maltese out there with similar international reputation which would hammer home reputation and credibility.  Anything less is risky in the circumstances."

The MEP warned that the new Commissioner will be scrutinised and grilled by the European Parliament and insisted that the persons does not necessarily have to be a politician.