The case concerning Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo and the transfer of his private secretary-turned-girlfriend Amanda Muscat is closed, Malta’s Prime Minister Robert Abela has declared. 

Abela implied that no action will be taken against Bartolo, despite claims that Muscat was transferred to the Gozo ministry for work she does not even turn up for.

He said that Muscat was employed with the government prior to her relationship. However, he did confirm that Muscat was in fact transferred to the Gozo Ministry, but said she no longer works there or with the government. 

Both the Tourism Ministry and Gozo Ministry has denied that she worked at the Gozo Ministry when approached by Lovin Malta. However, the Shift News has published documentation proving the transfer.

Abela did not say whether she was employed within the Ministry before Bartolo’s appointment to the role. 

The relationship between Bartolo and Amanda Muscat has been an open secret for months. Muscat was allegedly ushered out of the Tourism Ministry, where she was working as Bartolo’s private secretary, to avoid another scandal similar to the one that engulfed former Education Minister Justyne Caruana and her partner Daniel Bogdanovic.

The government’s internal server shows that Muscat was employed as a person of trust within the Gozo Ministry as part of the Strategic and Priorities Unit. That information has since been removed.

The Tourism Ministry had ignored questions sent by Lovin Malta for weeks, only issuing a terse reply that “Muscat does not work within the Gozo Ministry” once warned over imminent publication. The bulk of the questions remain unanswered and include details like Muscat’s remuneration, the date of her transfer, and the reason behind it.

Lovin Malta is informed that the transfer was imposed to avoid a repetition of the ethics breach that saw Caruana resign in disgrace and become subject to a police investigation.

Should Clayton Bartolo step down?