Breaking: Clayton Bartolo resigns as Tourism Minister
Clayton Bartolo on Tuesday resigned as Tourism Minister, three weeks after he was found to have breached ethical standards when his partner, now wife, was given a consultancy job without having the necessary qualifications.Bartolo will remain a Labou
Clayton Bartolo on Tuesday resigned as Tourism Minister, three weeks after he was found to have breached ethical standards when his partner, now wife, was given a consultancy job without having the necessary qualifications.
Bartolo will remain a Labour MP and serve on the backbench.
It is understood that the resignation letter was handed to the Prime Minister this morning. The resignation is still to be officially announced.
Bartolo would give no comment to the media as he exited from Castill. What was discussed between me and the Prime Minister remains between us, he told MaltaToday. He left Castille Square in a private car, not a ministerial vehicle.
It is understood that no new minister will be appointed to the Cabinet. Bartolo's responsibilities are to be shared by other ministers.
Clayton Bartolo and Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri were found by the Standards Commissioner Joseph Azzopardi to have abused their power when Bartolo's then-girlfriend Amanda Muscat was given a job she had no qualifications for, and did not do.
The ministers respectively were found to have failed to administer public funds diligently, Azzopardi said in the report.
Azzopardi found that Amanda Muscat, now Bartolo's wife, was first promoted from being Bartolo's personal assistant to his consultant with an increased salary of almost €62,000 and, later, this was upped to €68,000 when she moved to Camilleri's ministry in 2021.
The report found that Muscat did not do consultancy work. By and large she continued to work as Bartolo's private secretary, with a consultant's salary, even when she was employed with Camilleri.
The Standards Commissioner's report was unanimously endorsed by the parliamentary Standards Committee, which is set to meet again tomorrow Wednesday to hear out the two ministers.
Calls for the resignation of the two ministers, or their removal by the Prime Minister, have abounded since the commissioner's report was published.
The Nationalist Party, NGO Repubblika and, more recently, 16 student organisations called for the ministers' removal.
For nearly three weeks, Bartolo resisted the calls to resign, saying he had committed no wrongdoing, although he did offer an apology. When questioned by journalist 10 days ago, he had said that degrees and diplomas are not everything in life, sparking further controversy.
The Prime Minister had stood by his two ministers steadfastly, going as far as saying that he had terminated Muscat's job.
It is not known whether the other minister involved, Clint Camilleri, will follow suit. Camilleri has defended himself saying that he had not employed Muscat at the Gozo ministry. Camilleri offered no apology following the commissioner's report, as Bartolo did.
Bartolo was elected to Parliament for the first time in 2017, having previously served as a Mellieha local councillor. He was named parliamentary secretary for financial services when Abela became Prime Minister in January 2020. In November that year, he had become Tourism Minister, a post he retained after the 2022 election.
This is a developing story. Refresh for updates
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