I got a parking ticket. Do I still have to pay the fine if I say sorry?

The speed camera caught me driving seven kilometres per hour above the limit. Do I still lose points on my licence if I beg for forgiveness?

I took out the black rubbish bag on the wrong day. Do I still face a penalty if I apologise?

These are some of the questions that were sarcastically making the rounds on the social media in the past few days as public discussion raged on about the Standards Commissioner's report which found that two ministers had breached ethics.

Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri and Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo were both ruled to have abused power when the latter's girlfriend, now wife, Amanda Muscat was given a job for which she had no qualifications. Commissioner Joseph Azzopardi found that Muscat was first promoted from being Bartolo's personal assistant to his consultant with an increased salary to almost €62,000. Later this was increased to €68,000 when she "moved" to Camilleri's ministry in 2021. The investigation found however that she continued to work as Bartolo's secretary, with a consultant's salary, even when she was employed with Camilleri.

The Nationalist Party was quick to jump on the commissioner's conclusions, saying that this was a clear case of fraud and the two ministers should take political responsibility and resign. NGO Repubblika went one further and said the two ministers should also face criminal consequences in court.

But, for the Labour Party and Prime Minister Robert Abela, it is business as usual. Both ministers have retained their place, have been arduously defended by Abela, and believe that they committed no wrongdoing to warrant their resignation. Abela has said he is satisfied with Bartolo's apology - Camilleri did not even say as much - and both remain part of the Cabinet.

This is yet another example to add to the already long list of instances in which there was no accountability for serious blunders committed by ministers. Saying sorry is really not enough in this case - and one of the two did not even bother to admit his misconduct - and the two should have been unceremoniously dumped out of the Cabinet.

Abela is sending the wrong message by keeping Camilleri and Bartolo in his team. He had taken a different approach when another minister, Justyne Caruana, was found to have violated ethical rules when she had given a consultancy job to her partner in 2021. Abela had then accepted Caruana's resignation.

What is different this time?

Like Caruana, Camilleri and Bartolo were found guilty. But, on this occasion, Abela has chosen not to see them out. It could be he is once again giving priority to political considerations rather than the national interest. Labour cannot afford to lose Camilleri in Gozo, having already lost Caruana.

The Prime Minister is not seeing the bigger picture here, or pretends not to see the extent of the ministers' transgression. This is not wearing a Manchester United's jacket to go to watch them play against a Maltese team, as Bartolo had done not so long ago. Or Bartolo being caught saying in an open microphone in Parliament that he "can't stand" an Opposition MP. Or boasting about the cleaning of the Swieqi promenade when the locality does not have a coastline. Or highlighting the installation of a bulb for fishermen on the same day that the Court of Appeal had confirmed a judgment that rescinded the deal to transfer three hospitals to a private company.

These were instances when Bartolo was mocked for his rudeness, little knowledge of geography and lack of good judgment.

But giving his girlfriend a job she was not qualified for, having her salary heftily topped up and, with the help of a colleague on the Cabinet, keep her in employment as a consultant is much more than a faux-pas. It is the blatant abuse of power which both ministers should pay for, at least politically.

(Let us, then, also not forget that these two ministers were embroiled in other serious matters, such as the Malta Film Commission's intransigence in explaining how public money is being spent and the fact that Malta was found by the European Court of Justice as having breached the Birds Directive by adopting a derogation allowing for the live capture of seven species of finches, disguised as it was as a scientific project).

The Prime Minister tried to justify the latest abuse by saying that Muscat had been in such employment only for a few months and that he had personally seen that her contract was terminated.

But that's not the point. Even if she had served as a consultant for one day, her appointment would still amount to a breach of ethics, and Ministers Bartolo and Camilleri would still be guilty of abusing their power.

On Thursday, the parliamentary Standards Committee will be discussing the commissioner's report. This will open a new chapter of the saga. But, in a country like ours, we're not expecting much.