Speaker confirms 2023 asset declarations still missing

The President of the House of Representatives, Anglu Farrugia, confirmed that Prime Minister Robert Abela has so far failed to table the 2023 declarations of assets of Ministers, Parliamentary Secretaries and their spouses or partners.

Confirming a report by The Shift last month, a spokesman for the Speaker’s office said that the previous annual declarations available date back to 2022 and that “the 2023 declarations have to date not been tabled in Parliament.”

Earlier this week, following up on this newsroom’s report, PN MP Karol Aquilina asked Robert Abela to state why he has not published the annual asset declarations for 2023.

Surprisingly, the Prime Minister replied that the information was already available to the public.

Despite the Prime Minister’s insistence, the records were not available. The declarations must be published annually, according to the code of ethics.

When The Shift asked OPM spokesperson Edward Montebello for a copy, he repeated the Prime Minister’s reply in Parliament that the declarations had already been made public. He declined to send a copy.

Referring to the Prime Minister’s replies in Parliament, PN MP Karol Aquilina asked the Speaker for a ruling obliging Robert Abela to table the 2023 declarations in Parliament. A decision is still to be made.

According to the ministerial code of ethics, all ministers and parliamentary secretaries must declare all their assets and those of their spouses/partners by March of each year.

These are then usually published by the Prime Minister and tabled in Parliament.

The last published declarations had raised serious questions about their veracity. For example, questions were raised about Robert Abela’s declaration and whether he was using undeclared assets held by his wife Lydia to pay for property acquisitions without declaring them as required.

Abela’s last published declaration for the year 2022.

Despite purchasing a new property in Gozo in 2022, Robert Abela declared an increase in his savings, which did not reflect the expenditure on the acquired property.

In his declaration, Abela insisted that his family’s income for 2022 stood at just €65,000 – his salary as prime minister.

Independent candidate Arnold Cassola had asked the Standards Commissioner for an investigation.

Sign up to our newsletter

Stay in the know

Get special updates directly in your inbox
Don't worry we do not spam
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

6 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Edward Sant
Edward Sant
22 days ago

Who is the liar now? No more needs to be said.

Colonel Gaddafi
Colonel Gaddafi
22 days ago

Well, here’s the thing: no use to make that declaration public – it’s a bunch of lies anyway…

Carmelo Borg
22 days ago

Miskin il PRIM KEMM HU FQIR.
IMMISNA NIGBRULU

GAHAN CAPCAP HALLI DAN IL BAHBUB IKOMPLI JADDINA BIZ ZMIEN
MEQ MEQ

D. Borg
D. Borg
22 days ago

Whilst, if we fail to file ALL our returns we are deprived from selling OUR property,

Whilst, if we fail to provide a clean ‘Compliance Certificate’ (notwithstanding the mistakes of the Tax Departments), we are deprived from accessing OUR funds in the bank

At the same time, the ‘People’s Representatives’ who are entrusted to manage OUR (and our children’s) FUNDS & ASSETS, have the cheek to effectively sabotage any mechanism (no matter how weak), by which they may be scrutinized if there is no correlation whatsoever between their ‘declared’ income and wealth accretion.

Ta’ kwalita’ indeed.

M.Galea
M.Galea
21 days ago

L miljuni kbar li ghandu jiddikjarahhom tghid? U Clint l propjeta kollha li ghandj jiddikjarahha kollha tghid?? Mhux l iridu jnizzlu!!

Eddy
Eddy
21 days ago

I’m the dictator (RA), no wrongdoings, so take it or swallow it.

Related Stories

‘A desperate keep-me-out-of-jail card’ – Bonello on magisterial inquiry bill
Former European Court of Human Rights Judge Giovanni Bonello
Gozo ministry’s Villa Lauri still closed despite €2.5 million spent since 2019
Another project fronted by the Gozo ministry has gone

Our Awards and Media Partners

Award logo Award logo Award logo