Labour MP Rosianne Cutajar was found to have been in breach of ethics over a Mdina property transaction involving Yorgen Fenech, who now stands accused of being a mastermind in the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

It has been alleged that the Qormi MP pocketed thousands of euro in brokerage fees after she and a close associate of hers helped Fenech in his dealings with the owner of the property, worth €3.1 million. The agreement fell through after Fenech was arrested in November 2019. The owner is now chasing Cutajar for her to return the €46,500 fee allegedly paid to her.

She became the third Labour MP to have been deemed to have breached ethics by the Standards Commissioner George Hyzler. Earlier in this legislature, former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat was found to have breached ethics when he had given a consultancy job to Konrad Mizzi at the Malta Tourism Authority, days after Mizzi had resigned the post of Tourism Minister. More recently, sitting minister Carmelo Abela was found to have been in breach of ethics with the publication of an advert, using public funds, which was intended to boost his image.

In both instances, no further action was taken. Muscat had resigned from MP by the time the Standards Committee discussed the report, and in a ruling given by Speaker Anglu Farrugia, it was deemed that the former PM could not be sanctioned because he had by then become a private citizen. In Abela’s case, the Speaker had chosen to abstain after the committee was equally divided on the outcome,  which meant that the Hyzler report could not be adopted, and Abela escaped punishment.

There had been another case in which Muscat, when he was PM, had been found guilty of a breach when he accepted three expensive bottles of wine from Fenech. That time, a letter sent by Muscat had been deemed enough as “a form of apology”.

On Cutajar, the PL seems to have taken a different position. When Muscat and Abela were facing possible sanctions, the PL had mightily defended them, complaining that the reports had been leaked to the media and doing their utmost for the two not to be chastised.

In Cutajar’s case, the PL was quick to say that it would be seeking the publication of the report. Added to this, once the report was published, the Office of the Prime Minister immediately said that Cutajar’s resignation from parliamentary secretary – which was pending since February when her alleged dealings with Fenech were made public – was now to be considered permanent.

It could be that the grey-listing of Malta by the Financial Action Task Force a few weeks ago has put some sense in the way the government thinks about such important matters.

But more is now expected from Labour.

If the government wants to be believed that it is doing its utmost to free itself of the bad reputation Malta has been tainted with, it must go a step further when the Standards Committee discusses Cutajar’s case next week.

The Labour representatives on the committee must not create obstacles to having Cutajar sanctioned because of her behaviour. If they do defend her, then it would be clear that Labour has not learnt the lesson in full.

It’s not enough to give her portfolio to someone else.