Ombudsman complains to Speaker: attacks are ‘unfair and unjust’

The Ombudsman has made his displeasure clear at allegations in the press he claims are based on political partisanship and personal vindication that are undermining the democratic process of the country.

The Ombudsman’s complaint, made to the Speaker in a letter he sent on 15 February 2016, was published together with a statement on questions he was sent by General Workers Union newspaper l-orizzont, with respect to his communications officer Jurgen Cassar.

“I have full trust in the loyalty, competence, integrity and dedication of our commissioners, officials and employees in the Ombudsman’s office,” Joseph Said Pullicino told Speaker Anglu Farrugia.

“I assure the House that, faithful to my oath of office, I always carried out my duties to the best of my capabilities with the highest level of independence and impartiality,” the former chief justice said.

Said Pullicino also decried a negative campaign by l-Orizzont, which asked his office whether communications officer Jurgen Cassar had been employed on a ‘person of trust’ basis, suggesting that the direct placement of Cassar would undermine his own-initiative inquiry into persons of trust jobs with the government.

The newspaper has published CCTV footage allegedly showing Cassar snapping a mobile phone photo of a man outside the ministry of foreign affairs, which photo was later uploaded on the website of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

“Nobody in these last 10 years was employed in the office of the Ombudsman on a position of trust, and every engagement was carried out in conformity with the Constitution, openly, competitively and transparently.”

Said Pullicino said the Ombudsman was empowered to employ the people necessary for the functions of the office, and that the Office of the Prime Minister had informed the Employment and Training Corporation in 2006 that the office was an independent institution.

“Every vacancy, whatever grade it is, is advertised in the local press and applicants are subjected to the scrutiny of a selection board that recommends the best candidates for employment.”

The Ombudsman is finalising a study into the employment of so called positions of trust with the government, which under Labour total some 450.