[WATCH] Robert Abela refuses to say whether Amanda Muscat should refund unjustified salary

The Prime Minister stated that his party truly believes in good governance because it had introduced the office of the Standards Commissioner which had found that Clayton Bartolo's wife was given an unjust government salary for a job she was not

By: maltatoday.com

Nov 22 2024
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[WATCH] Robert Abela refuses

Prime Minister Robert Abela has refused to answer whether he believes that tourism minister Clayton Bartolo’s wife should refund the salary she had unjustly been given as policy consultant.

Clayton Bartolo’s girlfriend, later to become wife, was given an “unjustified” salary increase as a policy consultant, a job she was not qualified for according to the Standards Commissioner. His investigation revealed that Amanda Muscat was promoted from private secretary to policy consultant at the tourism ministry despite not having specialised knowledge or qualifications to perform the new role.

On Friday, Abela was fielding journalists’ questions when he was asked on Bartolo’s wife, Amanda Muscat. Abela would not say whether Muscat should refund her unjustified salary, instead brushing off responsibility on Parliament’s Standards Committee.

On Thursday, the committee fully endorsed the damning report, while Speaker Anġlu Farrugia told the committee’s members that they should read the commissioner’s recommendations for the funds to be reimbursed “very clearly.”

The Prime Minister refused to answer whether he agreed with the Speaker, insisting that he doesn’t wish to “influence” the committee’s actions. The committee is made up of two government MPs, two opposition MPs, as well as the speaker, who has a tie-breaking vote.

Abela deflected attention away from his ministers’ actions by stating that previous PN administrations oversaw much more serious cases than this one and chose to do nothing. He said that the governing party believes in good governance because it had created the role of the Standards Commissioner.

Abela further brought up EU Parliament President Roberta Metsola’s case of nepotism, where she had appointed her brother-in-law as head of her cabinet.

When asked on his refusal to send a message and differentiate this government from PN administrations, Abela insisted that he had decided three years ago to terminate Amanda Muscat’s government employment.