All government members must shoulder the responsibility for their actions, Prime Minister Robert Abela said on Monday, when asked about a damning report on Education Minister Justyne Caruana.

Last week, Standards Commissioner George Hyzler found that Caruana abused her power when her ministry gave her close friend Daniel Bogdanovic a €15,000 contract to draw up a report in ways to improve the National Sports School.

Hzyzler said the former footballer was not qualified to draw up the report which was, in fact, not authored by Bogdanovic. He also spoke about efforts to cover up the fact that Bogdanovic did not write the report himself, and suggested that the police should investigate the case.

Caruana has so far refused to resign and the Prime Minister has said he will wait for the outcome of Parliament’s ethics committee debate before acting.  

In comments to MaltaToday, Abela said his refusal to sack Caruana does not weaken the government on matters of good governance.

“I have not said that is the final decision. There is an ongoing process and one must wait for it to finish. At the same time, every MP, particularly those in the executive, have to shoulder their responsibilities. I have said this from day one and the message has always been consistent.”

Asked if he is expecting Caruana to resign, Abela said: “That is not what I said. What I said is that everyone knows what their responsibilities are and, naturally, everyone has to ensure that they honour the post they occupy through their behaviour.”

Pressed to say what he thought about Caruana refusing to resign, Abela said “This is why I spoke about the process not being concluded yet. There is the ethics committee part. But if you ask me if I am happy with the situation, I reiterate that everyone should shoulder their responsibility.”