The Standards Commissioner has told Prime Minister Robert Abela to publish his declaration of assets and those of his Cabinet of Ministers, as has been the practise in the last three decades.

In a letter made public a few days ago, Commissioner Joseph Azzopardi said that any reform of the system that the Prime Minister is envisaging should not preclude him from doing his duty and publish the declaration of assets.

Abela has refused to do so. He should have published these declarations, pertaining to 2023, by the end of April last year. But he has not done so, and continues to defy calls for him to do what has been done by all Prime Ministers for most of the past 30 years.

The Prime Minister is insisting that there should be a change in the way the system works. Well and good, the Standards Commissioner replied. Let's talk about it, the commissioner said, but in the meantime there is no reason why ministers' declarations for 2023 should not be tabled in Parliament, and this should be done as soon as possible.

Abela has not listened to the commissioner's plea, which also vindicates the repeated calls made by the Nationalist Party for Abela to do his duty. But Abela does not want to listen, and even the Labour Party, always at the ready to reply to anything political that is thrown in its way, has remained silent on the situation.

And so it is pertinent to ask why the PM has chosen to withhold the declarations his Cabinet of Ministers compiled. What is listed in these assets that could in any way harm the Labour Party, or a particular minister, or a number of them? Why is Abela so reluctant to stick to the practice that was followed by successive Prime Ministers - including Abela himself when he took over the reins of the country in 2020? What has changed in the past year to push Abela to decide not to continue the exercise?

If Abela wants to change the whole set-up, he should declare what he wants it to be for the matter to be discussed and, later, implemented. But to arbitrarily decide to not publish the latest declarations (and the ones for 2024 should be up next, by the end of April) and insist that there be a change is yet another despotic way of doing things by the PM.

And, if as the Prime Minister is saying, there should be a change in the system, let he be reminded - as the Standards Commissioner told him - that a report by the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development had recommended that asset declarations should include more information, including any gifts they received and paid travel abroad.

In other words, the system change should bring about more - not less - accountability and transparency. The Prime Minister's track record in this respect has not been very positive, as the action he has taken reduces the possibility of the emergence of truth. Just take a look at what he is proposing regarding the magisterial inquiry reform. So we are very sceptical that his ideas for reform of the declaration of assets will bring about more glasnost.

Until his planned reform takes place, we can only again insist that the PM does his duty and publish the declaration of assets.