The Nationalist Party harshly criticised the civil service chief’s “attack” on the Ombudsman, while accusing the government of undermining the institutions.
In comments to the media earlier this week, the Principal Permanent Secretary, Mario Cutajar, said the Ombudsman needs to be clear about his own standards about the employment of persons of trust, adding that the Ombudsman himself employed people on such a basis. The Ombudsman has denied the claim.
In a statement, PN MPs Therese Comodini Cachia and Joseph Ellis said the PN strongly believes in the constitutional system, which gives the Office of the Ombudsman the function of investigating any action taken by or on behalf of the government.
They said that government should stop undermining the institutions tasked with ensuring good governance.
The PN said the government should stop managing the public administration in a partisan manner. They added that when an authority such as the Ombudsman finds a shortcoming in the public administration, the Head of Civil Service is expected to ensure that the administration reaches the level required by it.
The Nationalist Party shared the Ombudsman's criticism of how persons of trust are appointed in the public administration. The MPs remarked that the Nationalist Party also agrees with what the Ombudsman indicated in the 2022 Ombudsplan, where in order to combat the creation of de facto impunity and improve public administration, lobbying needs to be addressed, and the abuse of the system of appointments of persons in positions of trust needs to be abolished as such conduct undermines trust in the public service.
The Nationalist Party stated that it is unacceptable for Mario Cutajar, as head of the Civil Service, to attack the powers of the Ombudsman, all the more so when it turned out that what Mario Cutajar alleged was not true.
The Nationalist Party called for complete transparency by the government on the engagement and remuneration of persons of trust.
It also said that that the Prime Minister’s dragging of feet on the appointment of a new Ombudsman is clear testimony that this constitutional office means nothing to him.
If the government has nothing to hide, it should not be so reluctant to provide information requested by the Opposition on persons of trust appointed by the most oversized Cabinet in the history of Malta.