Prime Minister Robert Abela has said that the government had put a renewed proposal to fill the post of Ombudsman and of Parliamentary Standards Commissioner on the table, and that he is waiting for an answer from the Opposition leader.

Asked by The Malta Independent about when the vacant posts of Ombudsman and Standards Commissioner would be filled and whether, until an agreement is reached between the government and the opposition, a person could be appointed to either of the posts temporarily, Abela said first and foremost that the law today “absolutely excludes” the appointment of an interim commissioner or interim ombudsman.

The idea of an interim replacement was floated by the now-former Standards Commissioner George Hyzler.

Hyzler departed his post to the European Court of Auditors in June this year, having served as the first Commissioner for Standards in Public Life since the office was established in 2018.  He left the post a year before his term expired.

Meanwhile, Ombudsman Anthony Mifsud’s term in office technically expired way back in March 2021, but there has not been an agreement yet on who should replace him.  Two weeks ago, Mifsud warned of a lack of motivation and inability to plan for the future in his office because his replacement had not been selected.

Both the government and the opposition must agree on who will serve as Ombudsman and who will serve as Standards Commissioner, with any candidate needing to obtain a two-thirds majority in Parliament to be appointed.

“What I can say is that last week I met the Opposition leader [Bernard Grech] and there is a sensible proposal on the table which I am waiting for him to get back to me on,” Abela said.

“In the proposal which was discussed, the government in no way insisted that their way had to go through by force and I hope that this message has been understood by the opposition, which on its part must also accept the democratic principles of the country and recognise that it cannot expect that whatever it wants goes through by force,” Abela said.

He clarified that the proposal catered for both the offices in question, and said that the current line of thinking is that an agreement on both offices is reached between the government and the opposition at once.

Discussions on the successor to Anthony Mifsud have been ongoing for a while and have at times been controversial as well: it was reported in April 2021 that the PN had proposed Hyzler to take Mifsud’s post but that the government was not keen on the idea.

That report in itself raised controversy, with the PN – while not denying that it had actually put Hyzler’s name forward – saying that discussions on constitutional roles between the Prime Minister and the opposition leader are confidential and that Abela had betrayed this confidentiality.