د . إAEDSRر . س

Repubblika Calls On Standards Commissioner To Investigate Konrad Mizzi’s NAO Snub

Article Featured Image

Civil society group Repubblika has called on Standards Commissioner George Hyzler to investigate claims by the National Audit Office that former minister Konrad Mizzi had refused with it in relation to an investigation into the hospitals’ concession

In a report published earlier this week, the NAO said that Mizzi had refused to meet with its officials despite several attempts. 

“The gravity of this failure was rendered evident in the NAO’s report through the pivotal role played by Hon Mizzi in this concession,” the report noted.  

“His failure to attend to the several requests made by the NAO was deemed a serious shortcoming in terms of the level of accountability expected of a former minister of the Government and in terms of the standard of good governance that ought to have characterised a project as material and as important to the national health services as this was.”

In light of the Auditor General’s remarks, Repubblika president Robert Aquilina said Mizzi’s snub represented a “grave breach of the code of ethics” outlined in the law on Standards in Public Life given that the Auditor General was to be considered an official of Parliament. 

Aquilina said that Mizzi was legally bound, as a minister, to answer for his actions before Parliament, adding that his refusal meant he had made no effort to uphold the status and dignity of Parliament.

He acknowledged that Mizzi was now no longer a minister, but said his behaviour was nonetheless unacceptable. 

Aquilina requested that Hyzler investigate the matter as he has done in other cases recently. 

Over the past year, the commissioner’s office has found minister Carmelo Abela and former Parliamentary Secretary Rosianne Cutajar in breach of ethics. 

Last week the commissioner also found Education Minister Justyne Caruana to have breached parliamentary ethics in handing out a three-month €15,000 contract by direct order to former Daniel Bogdanovic, with who she is understood to have had a romantic relationship. 

While the commissioner can do little other than declare a breach of ethics and recommend further action, his investigations have proved useful in getting ministers and government officials to respond to accusations against them, something which they often refuse to do with the media. 

Tag someone who needs to read this

READ NEXT: One Step Ahead: Melita To Achieve Carbon Neutrality In 2022

Yannick joined Lovin Malta in March 2021 having started out in journalism in 2016. He is passionate about politics and the way our society is governed, and anything to do with numbers and graphs. He likes dogs more than he does people.

You may also love

View All