Prime Minister Robert Abela said there is no obligation for him to publish the Cabinet of Ministers' declaration of assets, in spite of being urged to do so by the Standards Commissioner.
Prime Ministers in the past have made it an unofficial practice to publish such information, but Abela has steadfastly refused to continue the exercise.
Asked why he was refusing to publish these declarations, Abela referred to a ruling given by Speaker Anġlu Farrugia who said that it is up to the prime minister to decide whether to table the declarations or not.
He spoke of a number of proposed changes to the asset declaration system, explaining that a planned reform would ensure more transparency as it would include all MPs' asset declarations.
"With the planned reform we want one simple thing: that the 79 MPs fill out one uniform asset declaration that offers a higher level of transparency than what we have today."
He said that currently there are MPs who do not even declare their income. "What we will do will mean that the public will have the transparency needed to understand, for example, how there are members of the Opposition who are capitalising from government projects. I'm not saying they don't have a right to. I see inconsistencies that you can be a prospective minister and go and defend contractors in public tenders. Now whether that is a question of a breach of ethics or not I don't know," he said.
He noted that there have been three occasions when these declarations were not tabled since the practice was introduced in the 1990s.
"This asset declaration is done for the Prime Minister to scrutinise," Abela insisted, adding that he followed the existing cabinet manual.
In a letter to the PM, dated 30 January but made public only yesterday, 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 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.
Answering a seperate question, the Prime Minister said that Alex Dalli will remain on as special envoy to Libya.
A damning report by the Ombudsman about the Corredino Correctional Facility under Alex Dalli's tenure as Director of Prisons was recently published. The report concluded that there was systemic maladministration at the Corradino Correctional Facility during Dalli's tenure from July 2018 to December 2021. This has resulted in calls for the resignation of Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri, with the PN even filing a motion of no confidence in the minister in Parliament, and for the removal of Dalli from any government position.
"Alex Dalli is doing very good work in the control of irriegular immigration in our country," the prime minister said.
Looking at the numbers since Minister Camilleri been in this sector for the past five years, we have a record low number of arrivals, Abela said. He said that there is a scourge of irregular migration in Italy and around Europe, "and people rebelling."
"We, among other things through the work of Alex Dalli, managed to control that phenomenon."
Asked if he feels morally and ethically comfortable in keeping Dalli in his post, Abela defended Dalli. He said Dalli inherited a prison where there was a prevelance of drugs, "where inmates would riot, where the Corradino Prison would burn," he said. "It is easy to sit behind a desk today and censure and write reports. But you need to put yourself in the position as it was years ago. Alex Dalli inherited anarchy at the prison." Abela said Dalli put a stop to it.
"Those who criticise need to put themselves in the shoes of those who take decisions and in the environment. It is not an easy environment."
There was a moment where the situation was brought under control, "and it could be that there were also episodes that needed decisions to be taken. Minister Byron Camilleri, years ago, took those decisions, and today we have moved to a phase where we are strengthening the rehabilitation of prisoners." Abela said he believes the aim of a punishment should be rehabilitatve and not punitive.
"This is why we introduced a number of measures at the Corradino prison under the present leadership and even prior, that focus on rehabilitation of prisoners. But certainly I will not censure the work of Alex Dalli because it was at a very sentsitive phase, and if we hadn't addressed the difficulties of that time then probably today we would have anarchy in prison."