An apology by Member of Parliament Rosianne Cutajar would show ‘humility’ and ‘close the case’, Prime Minister Robert Abela said in response to questions posed by journalists on Monday.
Abela, last week, said that independent MP Rosianne Cutajar must apologise before she can be accepted back into the Labour Party parliamentary group. “If one doesn’t apologise in cases like these, it shows they do not really want to return; so yes, I think an apology is in order,” Abela had told MaltaToday.
However, reports on Sunday detailed how Cutajar was ‘fuming’ at the stipulation, believing that the Prime Minister had moved the goalposts for her re-entry into politics.
Responding to questions on Monday as to whether or not she has yet apologised, Abela said that his principles regarding Rosianne Cutajar have always been the same. “Firstly that she does not deserve a perpetual punishment for what happened. Secondly, that a lot of time passed since that day and eventually it led to a number of sanctions,” which he said were already issued. “I believe that the process where one extends an apology would close the case against her. I believe an apology strengthens you.”
Abela said that when he had to apologise, he did, mentioning the Jean Paul Sofia inquiry. “I believe that is what the people expect of us.”
He believes that the people “do not look for perpetual punishments, unless the circumstances merit it. But the case of Rosianne Cutajar to my understanding is not one that merits perpetual punishment or a permanent interdiction from public life. But an apology, when expected, I believe can strengthen you, and I believe Rosianne Cutajar has the necessary maturity to understand that an apology will strengthen her.”
“In this particular case, the apology is not to humiliate her, but to show how humble she is and how she is ready to close this chapter,” he said.
Pressed again and asked whether she has yet apologised, Abela said that the process began before the Parliamentary Group with the first part of the discussion, and that the next step lies with the party structure, adding that the party executive “must discuss the question whether or not to allow the re-entrance of Cutajar into the party. There is a formal structure and the process must take place within that structure.”
Asked whether he spoke to Rosianne Cutajar since his announcement, he said that with Cutajar, “like other MPs from both sides of the House,” he talks to. “I expressed what I believe is the correct way forward, and I believe that with common sense we can reach a solution.”
Abela said that the apology should be done “within the Labour Party’s structures” but extends in a more general manner as well, and went on to question how many Opposition MPs did not apologise or were not sanctioned for “much worse behaviour than what Rosianne Cutajar did.”
The Prime Minister did not specify who these MPs are, but said that the cases are publicly known.
“What do people want though? Do they want me to justify one because others did something a lot worse? Or do they expect a dose of humility from us all, me especially, where necessary by apologising?”
Asked within this context about his refusal to apologise after a Standards Commissioner report found that he had breached parliamentary ethics over a Facebook advert, Abela pointed out that when necessary – such as in response to the Jean Paul Sofia public inquiry and the Daphne Caruana Galizia public inquiry – he had been the first to apologise.
The Standards case, he said, is a set of different circumstances as it is still pending. This is because while the Standards Commissioner has concluded his report, the Parliamentary Committee for Standards in Public Life must still discuss the report and determine whether to adopt it or not.
The report centred on a short, sponsored video uploaded to the government’s main Facebook page last year which Standards Commissioner Joseph Azzopardi said constituted a misuse of public funds because it promoted the Prime Minister and his image rather than broadcasted information which was of public interest.
Abela refused to apologise for it, which meant that Azzopardi referred the report to the parliamentary committee. The committee is made up of two PL MPs and two PN MPs and is chaired by the Speaker.
Abela noted that the committee had not adopted reports on similar cases such as this, and said that based on this precedent he will be contesting the report.
“If the committee does not adopt the report, then there will be no apology because there is no responsibility to shoulder; if the committee finds that there is responsibility, then yes I will apologise,” Abela said.