The Prime Minister, rather than try to clear his name, has invoked time-barring, meaning that an accusation levelled against him cannot be investigated further.

In a statement last Monday, Momentum chairperson Arnold Cassola said the Standards Commissioner had informed him - as the complainant - that he (the commissioner) could not continue probing into how the purchase of land by Abela in Xewkija, valued at €180,000, had not been declared by the PM in his declaration of assets for 2022.

Abela, in his reply to the commissioner, had referred him to the fact that the complaint had been filed beyond the statute of limitations, and as such could not be investigated. The commissioner, for his part, had no option but to stop dealing with the case.

In his ruling, the commissioner expressed his concern that the time-limit for such complaints - just 30 days - was too short. "It's difficult to understand," he wrote, "why (such a short period of time) was imposed on breach of ethics when time-barring had been completely removed from crimes of political corruption which could lead to a prison term as they are more serious".

As was to be expected, Abela has been accused by the Nationalist Party and NGOs of hiding behind the time-barring regulation, rather than face the issue.

While, like all other people who are accused of something or other, the Prime Minister has every right to defend himself in the best way possible, using all that the law allows him to do so as not to be found guilty, Abela's position in this case leads to more questions and creates doubts on his innocence.

The Nationalist Party was quick to point out that someone in Abela's position should not have resorted to the statute of limitations to get out of the quandary. Someone who is innocent would want to clear his name, the PN said, instead of using time-barring as a way to stop the investigation. This, according to the PN, is an admission of guilt by a Prime Minister "who hid behind a technicality to absolve himself and avoid transparency." By doing this, the PM can never hold his ministers accountable when they make mistakes, the PN added.

If the Prime Minister did nothing wrong, then he should have had the courage to face the music, and waived the statute of limitations clause to allow a thorough investigation by the commissioner. As it happened, doubts about Abela's behaviour remain.

The Standards Commissioner is right to indicate that the statute of limitations is too short. The Labour government had boasted that it had removed time-barring for cases of corruption; so why not also extend, or possibly even remove, the statute of limitations for cases similar to the one the Prime Minister was accused of?

As NGO Repubblika pointed out, the 30-day limitation period sends the wrong message that there is minimal scrutiny on MPs' conduct.

Politicians should be the first to set an example.

Instead, what the Prime Minister did has again raised the issue of a "culture of impunity" that has been allowed to fester in the past years.