Alex Borg was roundly condemned by the Standards Commissioner for "resorting to deceit" to "justify his vote" in favour of the Chambray concessionaires. The Commissioner concluded that "Borg's comments on the concession were not in keeping with the facts". In other words, Borg lied about the Chambray contract. The Commissioner offered to close the case against Borg if he would only apologise. Borg not only refused, he didn't even bother replying to the Commissioner. When the deadline expired, the Commissioner gave him another chance. Again Borg didn't have the basic courtesy of replying.
That level of insolence, incivility and disrespect is something we've come to expect from Robert Abela. He too was asked by the Standards Commissioner to apologise. Abela refused but at least he replied and respected the Commissioner's deadlines. Alex Borg isn't Prime Minister. He's a first term Opposition MP. Yet he managed to outdo the graceless Robert Abela's arrogance. That's no mean feat. Borg has shown such utter contempt for the Office of the Standards Commissioner that he not only disgraces himself but also drags his party down with him. Labour will have a field day.
Alex Borg falsely claimed on one of his many Facebook posts that "government gave up its contractual duty to restore the (Chambray) fortifications and instead passed that responsibility onto the new concessionaire". He repeated those false claims in an interview with Maltatoday - "the private sector has now taken on the responsibility to restore the bastions and to keep the fortifications as they are".
The contract approved by Parliament on 2 July 2024 states the exact opposite. Section 4 clearly indicates that "government remains responsible for restoration of the bastions and for strengthening the land below the bastions" and that "neither the company nor its successors...shall have any obligation...to carry out any restoration works to the fortifications".
That contract extends the development zone of Fort Chambray. The 19th century barracks will be demolished despite being recognised as having significant historical value. The concessionaire failed to fulfill his contractual obligations and instead of having the concession withdrawn, Parliament made it even more favourable for him. The new concession gives him the right to transfer the concession to third parties with the real potential of earning him substantial profits from which the State will not benefit in the least.
Yet Alex Borg went out of his way not only to defend the concessionaire but to discredit those who voiced critical opinions of the developer. "The chatter uploaded on social media is just misinformation," Borg commented as he spread his own disinformation. Borg defended the "investors". He admitted meeting "persons who are totally involved in this concession". "The investors are not going to build blocks of flats in Chambray, they're not going to build a road in the middle of Chambray, but they're going to invest to attract quality tourists," Borg defended. "They're not going to build an eyesore". No, they're just going to demolish our historical patrimony.
On 20 August 2024 the Commissioner informed Borg that a complaint had been lodged about his false claims, giving him a full month to reply. Borg waited until the day before the deadline to respond. He refuted the allegations that he misconstrued the facts. He accused the complainant of "not having read the concession contract well". Ironically he was the one who hadn't ready the contract well. He was forced to admit: "it is still the government's legal responsibility to carry out repairs to the fortifications at Chambray". That was the diametrical opposite of what he claimed on his Facebook post and with Maltatoday.
On 9 January 2025, the Standards Commissioner wrote back to Borg informing him that he was launching an investigation. He provided Borg with the evidence collated and asked him to reply by 7 February 2025. Borg ignored the deadline. He only replied on Sunday 9 February 2025, attempting to deflect the main accusation that he'd made false statements. "I appreciate that I am under public scrutiny and I am ready to be collaborative," he told the Commissioner in his late reply.
The Commissioner wasn't impressed. In his final report he wrote "if an MP makes a false statement regarding such an issue (Chambray), he gives the impression that he cannot justify his vote (in Parliament) without resorting to deceit. This sows doubt over his motivation and undermines the dignity of Parliament". The Commissioner ruled that Borg breached ethics because of "the lack of factual accuracy of his comments". But the Commissioner was in a merciful mood. He decided Borg's breach was "not serious" and he would close the case if Borg offered an apology.
The Commissioner gave Borg until 4 April 2025 to respond. The deadline expired. Borg didn't bother replying. Assuming this was an oversight, the Commissioner asked his director general to contact Borg to give him more time, extending the deadline until 11 April 2025. Insolently, Borg not only failed to reply, but didn't even acknowledge receipt of the Director General's e-mail.
The Standards Commissioner patiently waited until 21 April 2025 - and still no communication from Borg. This wasn't just misguided disrespect to the institution of the Commissioner's office but plain ill-mannered coarseness. Former chief justice Joseph Azzopardi was left with no option but to find Borg guilty of breaching ethics and referred his case to the Parliamentary Standards Committee.
With his petty puerility Borg hasn't just damaged his own credibility. He's undermined his party and his leader. If that's his intention, he certainly succeeded. How can the Opposition now criticise the Prime Minister for arrogantly refusing to apologise to the Commissioner when their own MP has done far worse? Did Alex Borg inform Bernard Grech that he was the subject of an investigation by the Standards Commissioner? Did he discuss the Commissioner's request for an apology with his leader? Borg's childish behaviour puts his leader in the most awkward situation - how will PN MPs vote when Borg's case is discussed at the parliamentary standards committee?
Borg's actions betray a worrying disrespect for democratic structures and raise serious concerns about his fitness for assuming positions of power.
Minister Clyde Caruana set an example of how mature decent politicians should behave. When the Standards Commissioner asked him to remedy his breach of ethics, Minister Caruana wrote a letter of apology, pledged not to repeat the breach and, without being asked, voluntarily refunded out of his own pocket the €83.90 and €15.10 in VAT that his Facebook sponsored post cost the taxpayer.
Instead of following Clyde Caruana's grown-up reaction, Alex Borg emulated Robert Abela's petulant puerility and his dangerous affront to our democratic institutions.