In a somewhat Kafkaesque turn of events, it has been revealed that the government’s Cabinet of Ministers has been working under a new and secret Code of Ethics for some time now.
But just what that new Code of Ethics that ministers are now bound to actually contains has been withheld from the public because, according to the head of the public service, it is not yet the right time to release it.
It transpires that the government has seen it fit to do away with the previous Code of Ethics, penned back in 1994, which is an easily accessible public document, and replaced it with its new and improved version which is being withheld from the public until at least the end of the year or the beginning of next year.
This information does not result from an investigative news story, they were plain statements delivered by Principal Permanent Secretary Mario Cutajar during a televised interview as though this were a perfectly normal and acceptable situation.
We have a situation in which the public is being assured that the Cabinet was never left without a Code of Ethics because once the new one was ready it entered into force and the old code was shelved. But while the public knew what the old rules were, the new rules have been kept under lock and key.
We will not delve into the merits of this new Code of Ethics because not much is known about it. The problem is that the country’s government has changed the Code of Ethics that its members are bound to, but no one knows what they are actually allowed or not allowed to do anymore.
The fact that the government can bring into force a new Code of Ethics and not tell anyone what it consists of is not only utterly reprehensible but it makes a complete mockery of what is supposed to be a 21st century democracy.
And the reason that the government has not yet published the Cabinet’s new Code of Ethics? Because it wants to publish the new version in one paper along with changes to other codes of ethics covering state companies, public entities and public officials.
These remaining areas are meant to be concluded by the beginning of next year and until then the new Code of Ethics is not worth the paper it’s printed on unless that Code is available to the public and to the media so that politicians are the workings of government can be properly scrutinised.
When asked during the interview whether he believes the new Code should be published so that the public can keep tabs on the government, the man in charge of the civil service simply replied that the public can keep the government in check because it provides consultation periods and publishes white papers on upcoming laws so the public can provide its feedback. Is this some kind of joke? This is not what oversight of government operations entails at all, it is merely one facet.
This all will, however, have to wait until and in the meantime, the government will be operating under an unknown Code of Ethics and one that could easily be altered to reflect any new developments in between now and then.
The whole uproar behind the changes to the ministerial Code of Ethics came about when it had been revealed in early 2013 that former parliamentary secretary Franco Mercieca had been moonlighting and was still practicing his profession as an ophthalmologist, which had been a clear breach of the ministerial code drawn up in 1994.
At the time the Prime Minister said that it would rewrite the Code to better reflect today’s day and age. It was revealed during the interview that the code now specifies that the Cabinet has the authority to make exceptions to this rule in the public interest.
Mr Cutajar said that while the previous document had been loaded with rules and procedures that apparently had nothing to do with ethics or values, the new and improved version has “removed them all” and “created a special manual”…“built on values, what they mean and on the leadership of each minister”.
At least the public knew what was what, or it was at least able to access the rules, with the old code. But with the government now operating on a new and secret Code of Ethics, scrutiny of ministers’ personal and professional dealings has been all but removed as far as ethics are concerned.
If Franz Kafka could see this latest machination, he would no doubt roll in his grave wishing he had come up with this one.
The government clearly must either publish this new Code of Ethics immediately or it must revert back to the 1994 version until it is good and ready to publish the new code. Anything short of that is unacceptable in a democracy.