Speaker of the House Anglu Farrugia has said that the decisions he has taken on the proceedings in the Committee for Standards in Public Life, in his capacity as Chair of the Committee, "were always accompanied by a detailed motivation and in line with the provisions of the Standards in Public Life Act." 

Speaker Farrugia said he recognises the responsibility which this position carries and that he is bound to always act within the parameters of the law.

He was responding to an editorial published by the Malta Independent, regarding the Office of the Standards Commissioner and, more specifically, regarding the fact that no replacement has yet been found for Commissioner Hyzler, who has vacated the seat to head to the European Court of Auditors.

In the editorial, this newsroom also commented on the effectiveness of the Standards Committee, that debates the Commissioner's reports.

"If anything, the office's powers are somewhat restrained, and it is a real pity that the parliamentary committee which should be taking action on reports compiled by the commissioner did not do its job properly. Too often, little, if anything, was done to correct what was wrong, and what was highlighted to be improper by the Standards Commissioner. The way the Standards Committee is composed, with two members from each side of the House under the chairmanship of the Speaker, has only served to act as a gatekeeper for the government side. Ministers and parliamentary secretaries who were caught in breach were treated with a slap on the wrist, in some cases not even that. The Standards Commissioner reports often embarrassed the government, or at least some of its members, but the government members on the Standards Committee, often supported by the Speaker, downplayed the issue to a great extent so as to defend them," the editorial read.