Justyne Caruana Ethics Probe Won’t Be Discussed By Parliamentary Committee Till At Least Mid-January
An ethics probe into Education Minister Justyne Caruana’s handing of a €15,000 direct order to a former footballer she had a relationship with will not be discussed in Parliament until at least mid-January.
Earlier this month, the Standards Commissioner passed on a report about his investigation into the allegation to the Speaker of the House.
The investigation was requested by independent candidate Arnold Cassola after it was revealed that Caruana had handed a three-month contract worth €15,000 by direct order to Daniel Bogdanovic, a former Malta national team player with whom she is understood to have had some form of romantic relationship.
The contract was meant to see Bogdanovic visit Maltese schools and make recommendations on how the country’s sports education could be altered in order for the country to produce more elite athletes.
The commissioner’s report found that Bogdanovic had not carried out the work he was paid for. It also uncovered attempts to hide the truth from the commissioner.
The findings of the investigation are currently being investigated by the police but Prime Minister Robert Abela has refused to force Caruana out, opting instead to wait for her to step down voluntarily.
He has told journalists that he will wait for the commissioner’s report to be discussed by a special parliamentary committee before taking action.
According to the law governing standards in public life, when the commissioner finds that there has been a breach of ethics through one of his investigations, the report is forwarded to Parliament’s committee for standards in public life for it to be discussed.
The committee, which includes two MPs from each side of the House and which is chaired by Speaker Anglu Farrugia, then decides whether or not to approve the report’s findings.
This can however take a considerable amount of time, especially if government MPs and the Speaker refuse to agree to its findings.
In the case of a breach of ethics by Labour MP Rosianne Cutajar, the report was only adopted by the standards committee in November this year, despite the commissioner having passed on his report in July
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