The Standards Commissioner has urged the Prime Minister to make public his declaration of assets and those of his ministers.
Prime Minister Robert Abela has as yet refused to make declarations for 2023 public, as he was supposed to have done by end April last year.
In a letter to the PM, dated 30 January but made public only today, Standards Commissioner Joseph Azzopardi said that any reform to the system should not preclude the PM from doing his duty and publish the declaration of assets.
The Commissioner's letter followed correspondence that began after ministers' declarations of assets for the year 2023 were not tabled in Parliament, thus breaking with long-established practice, a statement issued by the commissioner's office said Monday.
The Commissioner wrote to the Prime Minister for the first time on 2 January 2025 to express his concern about this. The Prime Minister replied proposing that all members of Parliament should make a single declaration of assets each year, even if they are ministers. This declaration would be tabled in Parliament. Ministers would no longer be required to make a separate declaration of assets. The Prime Minister asked for the Commissioner's views on this proposal, the statement said.
In his letter of 30 January the Commissioner presented his views. He stated that there should be no reduction in the information that ministers are obliged to declare. He noted that ministers are currently obliged to declare their income, although ordinary MPs are not. He said that the introduction of a common declaration form should not result in this requirement being dropped.
The Commissioner referred to an OECD report which recommended that asset declarations should include more information. Among other things, the OECD report proposed that MPs should declare their income, and ministers and MPs alike should declare gifts received by them (including paid travel abroad). The Commissioner stated that this report should be the point of departure for the reform of the asset declaration system.
The Commissioner also stated that the reform should involve consultation with the public and civil society, and it should not be rushed. He said that in the meantime he saw no reason why ministers' declarations for 2023 should not be tabled in Parliament, and this should be done as soon as possible.
Momentum Chairperson Arnold Cassola stated: "On 24th January, Momentum wrote to the Standards Commissioner to take action against Robert Abela and the whole cabinet for not having declared their 2023 assets to parliament".
"We thank the Standards Commissioner, Judge Emeritus Joseph Azzopardi, for having immediately taken action by urging the prime minister to table ministers' declarations of assets for 2023 "as soon as possible", Momentum said.