Updated: Robert Abela wants to hide his and his ministers’ assets, PN says; PL replies

The Prime Minister has once again gone to Parliament to shut down every form of transparency and scrutiny over himself and his Cabinet by formally removing the obligation for him and his Ministers to provide declarations of their assets, the Nationalist Party said Tuesday.

Instead of proposing measures to improve people’s lives, Robert Abela went to Parliament to stop scrutiny on himself, as he is more concerned with covering up his tracks and those of his Ministers than with leading our country.

This is a government that is increasingly distancing itself from the people and from their scrutiny, and which continues to do everything it can to hide from the eyes of those who entrusted it with power. Those who have nothing to hide do not fear transparency. But this government is choosing to hide, day after day, the PN said.

The message Robert Abela is sending is that those in power are above the scrutiny of those who elected them and can do as they please.

On the other hand, a new Nationalist Government is committed to reversing this outrageous decision and restoring transparency by reintroducing the obligation for Ministers to declare their assets, the PN said.

Because the people have every right to be reassured that those leading them are not deceiving them.

Serious politics is built on trust, not on secrecy, the PN said.

 

‘Opposition against higher standards for MPs,’ PL says 

In reply, the Labour Party said that it is worrying that the Opposition is against stricter declaration of assets and higher ethical standards for all Members of Parliament.

“It is also worrying that Opposition MPs are against the fact that they are obliged to declare their income as proposed in the new amendments,” the statement said.

It said that the amendments presented by government on Monday are intended to strengthen these systems, and said that “it is simply not true that Ministers or Parliamentary Secretaries will stop declaring their assets.”

“Not only will this obligation remain in a single consolidated form for all MPs, but for the first time, a register of interests will also be introduced,” the statement said.

It said that there is no doubt that the Code of Ethics for MPs also needs to be strengthened.

The PL recalled that the only reason why the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life did not find Opposition Leader Alex Borg guilty of lying and spreading false information about generic medicines was because the current Code of Ethics does not oblige all MPs to tell the truth.

“It is also clear that the Opposition is divided on government’s proposal to prevent any conflict of interest in every parliamentary procedure. This is because it is not the first time that Opposition MPs have used their seat in Parliament, particularly through parliamentary questions, to push their personal interests,” the statement said.

The PL said that Alex Borg’s Opposition is simply another version of those led by his predecessors, saying one thing and doing something else.

 

“A Labour Government has introduced laws to strengthen every pillar of democracy in our country, and it will not learn lessons from the party in Opposition which, to this day, still operates a secret “ċedoli” scheme,” the Labour Party said.

RSS Feed Source: Independent Malta Updated: Robert Abela wants to hide his and his ministers’ assets, PN says; PL replies