Newly appointed Standards Commissioner Joseph Azzopardi, who is a former Chief Justice, refused to give any comments to the press after he took his oath of office.

"Go and enjoy the sun I haven't even entered the office yet," Azzopardi told journalists.

Azzopardi took the oath of office at San Anton Palace on Wednesday, after Parliament approved his nomination - although not unanimously. Only a simple majority vote was required for this post, and so the motion passed with 41 votes in favour and 33 against with no abstentions. The PN voted against.

Parliament spent weeks debating about the person nominated by the government for Standards Commissioner after an agreement could not be reached by the two parties on the appointment of Azzopardi. The government had insisted on sticking to Azzopardi as their nominee, while the Opposition had insisted that he is not suitable for the post.

This impasse had led to the introduction of the anti-deadlock mechanism, which lays down that the Standards Commissioner should be nominated with the support of both sides of the house, but in the event that the required two-thirds majority is not reached in two separate votes - both of which were taken over the past weeks, then the appointment is made via a simple majority on the third and final vote, which was taken on Monday.

Following the vote on Monday, the PN issued a statement, saying that Prime Minister Robert Abela has hijacked another institution. 

Independent candidate Arnold Cassola has ten complaints which are currently pending at the Standards Commissioner's Office, since the post has been vacant since September, when the former Commissioner George Hyzler was appointed as Malta's representative on the European Court of Auditors.