Scicluna to be removed from MFSA Board, PM says he expects his resignation as Central Bank Governor
A notice in the Government Gazette will be posted tomorrow detailing that Edward Scicluna will no longer be occupying his post on the MFSA’s Board of Directors, Prime Minister Robert Abela revealed on Thursday evening. “A decision needed
A notice in the Government Gazette will be posted tomorrow detailing that Edward Scicluna will no longer be occupying his post on the MFSA’s Board of Directors, Prime Minister Robert Abela revealed on Thursday evening.
“A decision needed to be made today, and in fact it was made,” Abela said.
Regarding Scicluna’s position as Governor of the Central Bank of Malta, the Prime Minister said that his message was clear and that he still believes that Scicluna will make the decision that is needed in favour of the national interest.
Abela said that the correct example has been set by Chris Fearne and Ronald Mizzi, and that he believes Scicluna will be guided forward through the principle of the national interest.
“Failing that, if that decision is not taken, naturally a decision will have to be taken … The Cabinet is going to meet next Tuesday,” said the Prime Minister.
Abela said that he has always observed Scicluna to be an individual who has worked properly and “with integrity.”
Scicluna’s position has been under question ever since he was charged with fraud and misappropriation in the hospitals concession case, together with Chris Fearne and 12 others.
Fearne had resigned as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister immediately upon being charged, while Permanent Secretary Ronald Mizzi stepped down from his post on Wednesday, after a court decreed that there was enough evidence against the accused in the case for it to continue to an eventual trial.
Scicluna, however, remained defiant despite Abela on Wednesday evening implying that he should step down. On Thursday morning he told The Malta Independent that he had already answered questions on whether he would step down.
"The EU Treaty is protecting me as a Eurosystem Governor from these very kind of pressures whenever they arise," he told this newsroom.
Cabinet however has the power to remove him from his position should it wish to, and it appears that Abela is ready to take this step if Scicluna doesn’t resign off his own accord.
The situation did not stop Abela from criticising the Nationalist Party on Thursday though. He said that PN Leader Bernard Grech has been a populist in this situation, and has misrepresented the government’s role in the appointment and dismissal of the post of Central Bank Governor. He said that this shows how Grech either does not know how to read the law or is misrepresenting it.
The Prime Minister referred to Grech’s call for a Parliament meeting to discuss Scicluna’s position as Governor as a “gimmick.”
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