The Standards Commissioner, Judge Joseph Azzopardi, will not be investigating Speaker Anglu Farrugia as this would lead to a conflict between the roles of the commissioner and the Speaker, who presides over the Standards Committee which oversees the commissioner’s report.

The commissioner was replying to a complaint that was raised by independent candidate Arnold Cassola.

Cassola last week asked the Standards Commissioner to open an investigation against Speaker Anglu Farrugia for voting against a Standards report that found 18 ministers had misused funds on political adverts.

In an email sent to the Office of the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life, Cassola reminded the office that Farrugia is the “Principal Office Holder” of parliament, and his duty is to look after the interests of the Maltese citizens in parliament.

“With his vote in the parliamentary committee on standards, the Speaker failed in his duty to look after the interests of the people and instead chose to look after the interests of 18 Members of Parliament who broke the rules on advertising.”

But, in a ruling given by the commissioner, made public by Cassola, Azzopardi said that the complaint “had no legal basis to be investigated”. Azzopardi endorsed the decision taken by former Commissioner, George Hyzler, but will not investigate the complaint.

In a statement, Cassola said that “the Commissioner for Standards has decided that he cannot proceed against Speaker Anglu Farrugia despite the fact that he (Farrugia) voted against the adoption of the decision taken and strongly defended by the Office of the Standards Commissioner.

This because, as a general rule, the Commissioner believes that he should  discuss neither the functions nor the discretion of the Speaker, as President of the Parliamentary Committee on standards in public life, since this would bring about a conflict of roles between Speaker and Commissioner.

"Basically", Arnold Cassola concluded, "despite being a parliamentarian, the Speaker will never be subject to the rules drawn up for parliamentarians, and is free to contradict any decision taken by the Commissioner for Standards".