Speaker Anglu Farrugia uses casting vote to absolve Robert Abela

Speaker Anglu Farrugia used his casting vote to absolve Prime Minister Robert Abela of a breach of the Ministerial Code of Ethics determined by Standards Commissioner Joe Azzopardi in a report last March.

Farrugia’s decision, made last week, went unnoticed, overshadowed by the latest report on the scandal involving Gozo and Planning Minister Clint Camilleri, Tourism Clayton Bartolo and his wife Amanda Muscat.

The case involved a complaint by independent candidate Arnold Cassola on a video posted by the prime minister in February 2023.

The Standards Commissioner found the prime minister breached the code of ethics by financing and airing a propaganda video through public funds.

The Commissioner found Abela to have failed to separate his role as prime minister from that of a politician. Abela also failed to be impartial in matters related to public service, exercise diligence in disbursing public funds, and respect the impartiality of public officers.

The Speaker used a legal loophole. He said that since the advertising guidelines issued by the Commissioner and breached by Abela had not been implemented into law, he had no alternative but to vote in line with the Labour MPs on the parliamentary committee, absolving Abela from any wrongdoing.

Trying to please both sides of the House, Farrugia said that while he agreed with the Commissioner’s conclusions, he did not have the ‘legal comfort’ to adopt the report against the prime minister.

PM MPs Mark Anthony Sammut and Ryan Callus voted in favour of the report’s adoption, but the Speaker’s casting vote defeated them.

On his part, the prime minister did not assume responsibility, blaming his staff, particularly Communications Chief Edward Montebello, for breaching the rules.

Commissioner Azzopardi, appointed by Abela, reminded the prime minister that he was responsible for his staff’s actions.