The Standards Commissioner has closed the case filed against parliamentary secretary Alicia Bugeja Said after she apologised for using an official activity to promote herself, in breach of ethical standards.
In a statement, the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life Joseph Azzopardi has concluded that ministers or parliamentary secretaries who used an official ministry activity for personal self-promotion would be in breach of ethics.
The Standards Commissioner came to this conclusion after considering a complaint filed in independent candidate Arnold Cassola alleging that Parliamentary Secretary Alicia Bugeja Said had invited employees of her ministry to a political event organised by her.
It was also alleged that she was in a conflict of interest because she had organised the event with support from the tuna industry, which she is responsible for regulating. However, it turned out that the event had been organised as an official teambuilding activity for ministry employees, the Stanrads Commissioner’s office said in a statement. Although the event involved a visit to fish farms, the only contribution of the fish farm operators was to transport participants from the shore to the fish farms and to explain how they operated.
The Commissioner therefore ruled that there was no conflict of interest on the part of Bugeja Said, but she was still in breach of ethics because she had used her name and political logo in a poster which she had sent to employees to inform them about the activity.
The Commissioner Bugeja Said that using her name in promotional material for an official activity would give the impression that she was trying to take personal credit for that activity in the public eye. Such a situation was to be avoided.
The Commissioner therefore requested Bugeja Said to submit an apology and a commitment to avoid repeating such conduct. She replied by means of a letter in which she apologised and undertook to avoid such occurrences in future. On the basis of this apology the Commissioner closed the case under article 22(5) of the Standards in Public Life Act, the office said.
This article empowers the Commissioner to close a case if it is not of a grave nature and the person investigated remedies the breach of ethics in a manner the Commissioner considers satisfactory.
Arnold Cassola stated: "In a country like ours, which is riddled with corruption, bribery and favouritism, as in the Transport Malta driving licence case, or vote buying rackets, as in the disability fraud, it is already a breath of fresh air that a Parliamentary Secretary recognises her mistake and promises not to do it again. On the background of such present political panorama, we must certainly thank God for little mercies".
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