Energy Minister Miriam Dalli being tagged by Maltese singer Ira Losco in sponsored social media posts is deemed not to have been a breach of ethics, but was still an "ethically questionable practice", stated Chief Justice Emeritus Joseph Azzopardi following an investigation into a complaint filed by Arnold Cassola, who claimed improper use of public funds for the publicity of Dalli.
The complaint by Cassola was made on 2 May 2023. Azzopardi wrote to Minister Dalli on 14 June 2023 to draw her attention to the sponsored posts in question. In the letter, Azzopardi wrote to Dalli informing her that having the personal pages of individuals be tagged in official posts or posts which were paid for by public funds is an ethically dubious practice, "in particular when they are sponsored posts". He added that such instances "can expose you to the accusation that you are benefitting from personal publicity through advertisements paid for by public funds".
The Standards Commissioner said that when Dalli was contacted regarding the report, she then promptly gave instructions for the tagging by Project Green to stop and the existing tags to be removed. The Commissioner continued that although the investigation did not result in any detection of a breach of ethics, the outcome of the investigation and the report was that an ethically questionable practice was ended. He commented that this is a positive development in relation to behaviour in public life.
In a response to letters sent by the Standards Office on 19th July 2023, Dalli said that the tagging of her personal profile was not authorised by her at any time, nor was it done at her request or instruction. She continued that neither she nor any of the persons adept in her Ministry's communications were involved in the management of such communication, in the correspondence, or negotiations that took place between Project Green and Losco.
Azzopardi said that Dalli's statements regarding the tagging not being authorised by her were substantiated by the testimony of Dr Pamela Cann Rodgers. The Standards Commissioner said that Cann Rodgers stated that the tagging idea was hers and that she voluntarily gave instructions to Losco for that purpose. He commented that the Standards Office did not collect any evidence to indicate otherwise, and continued that the most which can be said is that when Dalli's page was tagged, she "did not take any action until she was written to" by Azzopardi.
In his report, the Standards Commissioner reiterated and emphasised that it is not good practice for an individual in politics to be tagged in writings on social media which are paid for by public funds, particularly in the case of sponsored posts. He said that this can be considered an inappropriate benefit in the form of personal publicity that is given to the individual concerned through the use of public funds. He added that if this tagging is done on the instructions of a person who falls under the Standards in Public Life Act, then this could potentially be considered a breach of ethics according to the Act.
Continuing on this point, he said that this tagging remains bad even if it does not lead to any increase in advertising expenditure. Azzopardi said that if a minister seems to be benefiting from a government publicity campaign, "one can easily think that the campaign as a whole is being done for the benefit of the minister and that its official purpose is just a pretext". He continued that therefore, it is important that the ministers do not appear in publicity done by the government.
The Standards Commissioner concluded that he did not find any fault on the part of Minister Dalli and declared the case closed.
Cassola's complaint also originally included Steve Ellul, the current CEO of Infrastructure Malta who was, at the time, the CEO of Project Green. Azzopardi said that Cassola justified the inclusion of Ellul as one of the subjects of the complaint by describing him as a politically exposed person (PEP). Having said that, the Standards Commissioner said that this is irrelevant because the Standards in Public Life Act does not make any reference to the status of an individual as a PEP.
In a subsequent letter sent on 1 July 2023 to the Standards Office after the initial complaint, Cassola referred to an article published by The Shift News regarding Losco’s contract with Project Green. Cassola remarked that making use of public money to promote the public image and political campaigns of politicians, in this instance referring to Dalli and Ellul, “in itself would justify immediate resignations in any normal democracy”.
Cassola said that according to the contract, Losco was obliged to feature her children in the promotions and events. “A minister and an aspiring MEP are so desperate for votes that they are unashamedly ready to utilise the faces of young children in publically funded adverts to promote their political careers, aims and aspirations,” he remarked. He then questioned what the Commissioner for Children’s Rights has to say about the matter, and commented that “the greed and lack of ethics in Maltese politics simply knows no bounds”.
On the matter of Losco’s children being contractually obligated to appear in the sponsored posts, the Standards Commissioner said that such material is not something that falls under the competence of the Standards Office as it has not resulted that Dalli was involved in the commissioning of the posts. He added that the matter would fall under the competence of the Commissioner for Children.
Arnold Cassola said: "While now it is clear that Ministers should no longer be tagged by public entities funded through taxpayers' money, it is positive that Minister Miriam Dalli immediately ordered the tagging to be removed after the Commissioner raised the issue with her. We all make mistakes in life. The important thing is remedying them once attention is drawn, rather than arrogantly persisting in the abuse".