Opposition Leader Bernard Grech accused Prime Minister Robert Abela for being complicit and choosing corruption and "fraud" over the Maltese public, reiterating the PN's call for the immediate resignation of Ministers Clayton Bartolo and Clint Camilleri, or the immediate dismissal from their posts by Abela.

Grech referred to Thursday's damning report by the Standards Commissioner which found that Bartolo and Camilleri had breached ethics and abused their power when Bartolo's then-girlfriend, now wife, Amanda Muscat was given a job of a policy consultant under Camilleri's Ministry, which she had no qualifications for, and did not do.

Independent politician Arnold Cassola had filed a request for an investigation by the Standards Commissioner in 2022, when he alleged that Muscat, who was Bartolo's girlfriend and private secretary at the time, was transferred to the Gozo Ministry, as well as that she was not turning up for work.

The report found that Muscat had continued carrying out her work as private secretary for Bartolo at the Tourism Ministry, while receiving a €68,000 salary including expertise allowances, as a supposed policy consultant for the Gozo Ministry.

Grech said that no matter how much government speaks about governance and tries to convince the public it will change in the last Budget speech, incidents like this "remind everyone again that this is the same Labour who does not listen to anyone."

He said the reality remains that a person close to the Minister, who could not keep working with him, tried to ridicule the public, and Camilleri "invented" a job for Muscat as a "pretend" consultant, receiving a €68,000 salary without the competence and qualifications needed, and on top of that, Muscat did not do the job she was being paid for.

"They are continuously ridiculing the public, and that is why the public is angry, and cannot accept that these things continue in this way," Grech said, adding that this is especially because Prime Minister Robert Abela said the Minister's apology was "sufficient."

Minister Bartolo had posted on social media about the Standards Commissioner's report and said: "While I do not agree with everything written by the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life, I accept the report. If there were any instances where I fell short in some way, I humbly apologize. No one is perfect, and the only people who never make mistakes are those who do nothing," Bartolo said.

Grech said that "the law works for the weak," as people receive parking or speeding tickets which they have to pay, or end up fined for forgetting a document, or other trivial "mistakes." Meanwhile, these Ministers get to say "sorry," and nothing happens to them, Grech said.

Grech questioned where the Police Commissioner is after all this, and why he has not taken action without anyone telling him to do so.

"It's because under Robert Abela everything remains the same, he defends everyone because they are all cut from the same cloth," Grech said.

He said this is no longer acceptable, and the public has understood that government is trying to ridicule them.

"That is why they do not reply to parliamentary questions, or do not give out information about tenders and contracts to us or the media," Grech said, adding that government also controls PBS to control the narrative.

"The only competence she had was that she was the friend, and then wife of Bartolo. They must resign immediately, and if not, Abela must send for them for their immediate resignation or dismiss them," Grech said.

He said Abela was complicit and chose corruption and "fraud" over the Maltese public. Grech called Abela "fake," and that he does not want the country to move forward, to remain complicit in the "theft" the Labour government has carried out over the past 11 years.

Grech said that angry Labourites are contacting the PN, as they have realised, they are being used for their vote, so that Labour continues to split the money between them.

"No wonder they do not feel the higher cost of living and the public's concerns," Grech said.

He said that the reality is that there are more who have committed such things, and Abela continues to defend them as the "Labour government is criminal, dirty and corrupt."

Grech said the public and the PN must be strengthened to remove this government, and give Malta a clean government, where taxes are used for the public.

"I will never tolerate these types of manoeuvres," Grech said, adding that the Ministers' defence included blaming their heads of secretariats for the employment.

Earlier in the day, PN MPs Rebekah Borg and Darren Carabott said Friday that an apology in the case of abuse of power by two government Ministers is "not enough," and had also demanded that Prime Minister Robert Abela to take action, remove them from their posts, and get back the public funds spent.

In a press conference on Friday, Borg said that Muscat stopped working at the Tourism Ministry on paper, and transferred to the Gozo Ministry weeks after Cassola had filed a separate complaint on former Education Minister Justyne Caruana for giving her friend a job he was not qualified for.

"This indicates that this transfer was planned, as they feared the same would happen to them, as had happened with Justyne Caruana," Borg said, adding that Muscat had no qualifications, nor did she do the job of consultancy.

Borg spoke about the heads of secretariats of each Ministry, who she said could not provide proof that Muscat had done the work she was meant to do, as well as the contradicting statements made by them and Muscat.

"With this government, it is not how much you know, but who you know," Borg said, quoting head of secretariat John Grima who tried to justify Muscat's employment by saying he looks at ideologies when considering the role.

"The ideology he referred to is the politics one practices. The Commissioner said that loyalty can never compensate a lack of qualifications," Borg said.

She continued that Muscat received a salary of €68,000, €20,000 of which were for expertise, which she had none of. Borg said that the title of policy consultant requires experts who provide policies and a vision for the country.

Borg also said that the Office of the Prime Minister knew that Muscat remained Bartolo's private secretary while receiving a salary for consultancy under Camilleri.

She said the Prime Minister accepted an apology in a serious case of "fraud," and the PN will keep insisting that the two Ministers must resign.

"This is a slap in the face for all those who work hard to get where they deserve to be," Borg said, adding that an apology is not enough, and urged Abela to "talk less, act more" and remove the two Ministers, as well as get back the public's money.

Carabott said that while during the Budget 2025 speech, the word "quality" was repeated, the true quality of the Labour government came out that same week.

He made reference to Camilleri's and Bartolo's Facebook posts in reaction to the news, and said that instead of taking action themselves and resigning, they simply said they "took note."

"There is where one can realise where their hearts truly lie. They are the ones who repeat that their hearts lie with the people, but truly, their hearts lie with their pockets," Carabott said.

As Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Carabott said the PAC's work is to investigate how public funds are being spent.

"Clayton Bartolo spent years sitting on the PAC, these same people chosen by Abela to investigate government's expenditure, and the same Minister who Abela said he would remove from the PAC for forwarding questions to the witness before the sitting," Carabott said.

He said this is a "clear case of fraud of public funds," as Muscat was pocketing €68,000 in salaries.

Carabott said a number of people, including genuine Labourites who feel offended with this ordeal, have messaged the PN, and are also calling for the Ministers' resignations.

"Socialism has finished under this Labour government," Carabott said.

He continued the PN's call for resignations will remain strong, adding that the two Ministers must take ownership of the wrong they have done and resign. If not, the Prime Minister has the duty and the responsibility to remove them, and not try to justify what cannot be defended.

"We gave the benefit of the doubt as we expected concrete action would follow after such a damning report," Carabott said.

He said that the police also have the responsibility of doing their duty and investigate cases of public funds "fraud."

Asked by a ONE journalist on whether it was right for European Parliament President Roberta Metsola to give the job to her chief of staff to one of her relatives, Borg replied that the person had over nine years of experience and had been doing such work before he became Metsola's relative.

She said one cannot compare the cases, as Muscat had no experience or qualifications for the job she did not even turn up for.