House committee chairman abstains, invoking conflict of interest

The chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Labour MP Charles Mangion, feels he cannot preside over sittings deliberating a motion approved on September 4 because of a conflict of interest.

The motion, proposed by government MPs and approved with a simple majority by government MPs including Cabinet ministers, was for the committee to investigate allegations made by Labour leader Alfred Sant on August 26. He alleged that a Gozitan contractor working on the Gozo drainage treatment plant was awarded a contract in spite of his bid being Lm1.5 million higher than the cheapest offer. According to Dr Sant this was due to the fact that the contractor was a friend of Gozo Minister Giovanna Debono and Roads Minister Jesmond Mugliett.

He also alleged that the Water Services Corporation chairman was concealing problematic work in spite of requests by Investments Minister Austin Gatt to take action.

In a letter to Speaker Anton Tabone, Dr Mangion said that since it was set up, the committee had always worked hand in hand with the Auditor General, who was answerable to Parliament and enjoyed the confidence of both sides of the House.

Through this system, whatever needed to be investigated was passed on to the Auditor General. The committee would then discuss the Auditor General's report, which always served as a guideline to him and the committee, Dr Mangion said. This was because such reports were always exhaustive and impartial and helped the committee deliberate in a more professional manner.

However, two recent motions approved with a simple majority by government MPs, including ministers, presented problems to the chair, Dr Mangion said.

The first was the proposal that an inquiry should be held into the work of the Auditor General and his office regarding the way they conducted the inquiry into the Voice of the Mediterranean.

The second was that calling on the committee to investigate the allegations referred to the committee by Dr Gatt.

Another motion moved by Labour MP Helena Dalli calling for a report by the Auditor General on the allegations made by Dr Sant and the claims of cost overruns mentioned in a letter by Dr Gatt to the WSC chairman on August 9 was defeated.

Dr Mangion informed the Speaker he felt he could not proceed in the case of the motion requesting an investigation into the Auditor General's work. This was because the committee was not competent to investigate the Auditor General, which was an institution protected by the Constitution.

Dr Mangion asked for the Speaker's advice as to how the committee could proceed without being ultra vires.

On the motion that allegations made by Dr Sant should be discussed by the committee, Dr Mangion said he felt that in the prevailing circumstances he had a conflict of interest which did not allow him to chair the committee in a fair and independent manner as he was in duty bound to do and as he had always done.

In this case, his position as deputy leader of the Labour Party and his duty to preside fairly were in conflict, primarily because the decision taken only reflected one side of the committee and contrasted greatly with the custom of unanimity with which the committee used to proceed until recently.

Moreover, on such an important issue, he did not have any independent and exhaustive report from the Auditor General on which to proceed and to guide the committee with impartiality.

In view of these circumstances, he felt he should not preside over the sittings on this motion.

He said that if it was agreed to allow the Auditor General to investigate Dr Gatt's request, he would be willing to preside over the committee whatever the findings of the Auditor General.

Dr Mangion said he was suggesting this because he really believed that every effort should be made for the committee to return to its practice of wide agreement.

Dr Gatt's ministry referred to Dr Mangion's letter and said this was an excuse to help Dr Sant avoid a committee decision to testify before it in order to substantiate his allegations.

The ministry said the committee had agreed that the Leader of the Opposition should be heard after September 17. As a meeting of the committee was not called, Dr Gatt on Monday wrote to Dr Mangion asking him to call a PAC meeting. But, instead, Dr Mangion wrote to the Speaker making many excuses which, in one way or another, permitted Dr Sant to avoid giving evidence. This was shameful and only meant that Dr Sant had made up the allegations in a typical mud-throwing exercise, the ministry said.