Standards Commissioner asks Abela to table Ministers asset declarations without delay

Standards Commissioner Joe Azzopardi has formally asked the Prime Minister to table the Ministerial asset declarations for 2023 in Parliament without further delay.

In a letter to the PM, Azzopardi told Abela that he was “concerned” over the PM’s unprecedented stance not to publish the declarations and insisted that this was unacceptable.

Referring to the PM’s suggestion that he wanted reform in this area whereby all MPs, independently from their executive position, make the same declaration, Azzopardi insisted that this must not be used to hold any information usually available to the public.

Insisting that this “reform” should not be rushed and should include public consultation, he reiterated that he “saw no reason why ministers’ declarations for 2023 should not be tabled in Parliament, and this should be done as soon as possible.”

The Commissioner reminded the PM that an OECD report submitted in 2023 recommended a reform for more transparency in these declarations, which the government has ignored so far.

These included proposals for added scrutiny, including declarations about family members’ assets and declarations of gifts, including travel.

“This should be the point of departure for the reform of the asset declarations system,” the Standards Commissioner pointed out.

Last December, The Shift revealed that Abela had not presented the 2023 annual declarations to Parliament.

The report was followed up by the Opposition, who asked the PM to table these declarations.

The PM refused and stated in Parliament that these declarations had already been presented to the Cabinet Secretary and made available to the public.

This was not true, as the declarations were nowhere to be found.

The Speaker of the House, Anglu Farrugia, and the Standards Commissioner, Joe Azzopardi, confirmed to The Shift that they did not have a copy of the declarations.

Also, The Shift’s formal request to the OPM and the Cabinet Secretary, Ryan Spagnol, was ignored.

The last time the PM presented these declarations for 2022, questions were raised about their veracity.

Abela’s declaration was considered one of the ‘problematic’ declarations as it showed that his declared income did not match his declared wealth or lifestyle.