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[WATCH] Lawrence Gonzi to inform Barroso of new commissioner's name
Gonzi: 'I am fully committed to the integrity of the institutions and I will be acting fast to nominate a new Commissioner from Malta.'
17 October 2012, 12:00am
Staff Reporter
Staff Reporter
2 min read
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi told his centre-right counterparts from the European People's Party today that he will informing European Commission president Jose Manuel Durao Barroso that he will soon nominate a new Commissioner for Malta.
Commissioner John Dalli resigned the health and consumer safety portfolio on Tuesday evening, over an OLAF investigation that alleged trading in influence by a Nationalist councillor who used Dalli's name to extract a fee from a tobacco company in Sweden.
"We were all shocked by the unexpected resignation of Mr John Dalli following revelations of an investigation conducted by the anti-fraud office, OLAF. Mr Dalli has categorically denied any wrong-doing but resigned his post in order to defend his reputation and that of the Commission," Gonzi told the EPP.
"I would like to make it clear that I am fully committed to the integrity of the institutions and I will be acting fast to nominate a new Commissioner from Malta. I will be communicating with President Barroso in this sense immediately in order to make sure that this episode is quickly closed in the interest of public trust in the institutions," Gonzi said.
On the other hand, the European Parliament's socialist group of MEPs called on the Maltese government to only appoint a Commissioner for Malta once the forthcoming elections pass.
The president of the Socialist and Democrat group of MEPs, Hannes Swodoba, said the Maltese government should only appoint its new Commissioner after the next general elections are held.
Swodoba said the S&D group supported the resignation of Commissioner John Dalli, who stepped down from the EC after anti-fraud watchdog OLAF, which investigates fraud allegations involving the EU budget, corruption and serious misconduct within the EU institutions, had received a complaint in May 2012 from the tobacco producer Swedish Match. The company argued that a Maltese entrepreneur had used his contacts with the Commissioner to try to gain financial advantage from the company in return for seeking to influence a possible future legislative proposal on tobacco products, in particular on the EU export ban on tobacco snuff 'snus'.
Commenting on Commissioner Dalli's decision to resign, Hannes Swoboda, S&D Group President, said: "We support the resignation of Commissioner Dalli. It is imperative that each Commissioner representing the European Commission is above suspicion. The EU Commission must act in a way where honesty has to be the priority."
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I like and agree with the proposal of ALGAN and second the nomination of Dr Alfred Sant to the position of Malta's EU Commissioner.
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We need the whistle blower act,one can't trust nobody, even law makers can break the laws that was created by themselfs
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We need the whistle blower act,one can't trust nobody, even law makers can break the laws that was created by themselfs
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Nista' inhabbrilkom jien min se jkun il-kummissarju l-gdid .... mhux l-isem, lanqas il-fattizzi imma d-DNA tieghu .... se jkun wiehed nazzjonalist minn guf ommu, ghajnejh blu, parti mill-klikka ta' gonzipn, ma ghandu ebda grazzja mal-partit laburista, hareg ghonqu ghal gonzi pubblikament, iddefenda lil gonzipn mill-attakki sfrenati ta' franco debono .... b'DNA bhal dan, x'ma jibaghtux kummissarju il-kbir gonzipn li ghandna .... haga wahda jkollu jaccetta din il-persuna .... li hemm cans kbir li malli jkun ghadu kif battal il-bagalji u sar jaf lil barroso u lill-klikka tieghu, isib quddiemu xi email minn kastilja li titolbu biex jirrizenja u jigi lura malta biex minfloku jkun hemm kummissarju veru .....
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Gonzi said "I would like to make it clear that I am fully committed to the integrity of the institutions and I will be acting fast to nominate a new Commissioner"
Who is Gonzi kidding? Is he forgetting that he has done everything in his power to reduce the influence of Parliament which has only met on a dozen of occasions this year because his government does not have a majority?
Why does Gonzi continue to refuse to implement Ombudsman decisions?
Why does Gonzi ignore reports compiled by the Auditor General on the BWSC power station and others?
Why does Gonzi accept the fact that his appointed Commission Against Corruption has not submitted any cases against corruption in the last eight years?
Why does Gonzi allow the committee that selects officials to the most senior positions to be run by party cronies and appointments are made only to PN supporters?
Need I give more examples on how Gonzi has misrably failed in the past 8 years to respect the integrity of most of the Maltese institutions?
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Nisperaw li n-'nomina' ta' Sant hija cajta....jekk le bl-MLP fil-gvern gejja xi farsa
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The PM seems to be in a rush to nominate another commissioner. I tend to agree with the president of the S&D EU parliamentary grouping that the nomination should be left for after the general election unless there is agreement between both parties. For me to restore our tarnished image we should nominate a person who is the paragon of political integrity and who is a true European in substance rather than form. For me the obvious person who supremely fits such qualities is Dr. Alfred Sant.
