Labour MP Marlene Farrugia has resigned her post as aide to her partner and Health Minister Godfrey Farrugia, citing the “excessive attention” her ministerial role had received in the past few days.
The excessive attention to my role could hamper the Ministry’s work at this initial, delicate stage of this legislature
She felt this “could hamper the Ministry’s work at this initial, delicate stage of the legislature”.
While she was resigning her formal ministerial role, she would continue to “help and support Godfrey Farrugia in his political work”, she said in a press statement issued yesterday afternoon.
In separate comments to The Times, the Health Minister said that he fully respected his partner’s decision but expressed regret that she had been forced to step aside.
“In Marlene, the health ministry has lost a crucial asset who was working with her usual enthusiasm, without pay, for the benefit of patients and workers within this sector,” he said.
The Żebbuġ-based Farrugia couple have come under media scrutiny over the past few days, after journalists queried Marlene Farrugia’s presence alongside her partner Godfrey during a ministerial meeting with General Workers’ Union officials last Monday.
She later told the press that she had been appointed a ministerial aide to Godfrey Farrugia by the Prime Minister – a voluntary role which would see her “do whatever I am asked to do by the minister,” as she put it.
Although the Government had insisted that the appointment created no conflict of interest and that it was in line with plans to assign specific tasks to each Labour MP, the familial link between minister Godfrey and MP Marlene Farrugia had raised several eyebrows.
Nothing in the ministerial code of ethics explicitly prohibits such unpaid family appointments, although ministers are expected to avoid any “real or potential”conflict between their private interests and public duties.
A spokesman at the Prime Minister’s office had deflected questions about potential ethical grey areas onto the couple itself, saying that the voluntary role had been Marlene Farrugia’s idea in the first place and that it would be up to the minister to ensure she was not assigned work that could give rise to conflicts of interest.
Lawyer Max Ganado yesterday questioned the wisdom of a minister appointing a family member to a position of influence but also argued that there was no clear-cut conflict of interest issue at stake.
Given that Marlene Farrugia was not being paid for her work and that it created no conflicting loyalties, the Government was “right to say that in this case there is no conflict of interest”, Dr Ganado argued.
“Whether it is good form to engage a family member in a position of power or influence is another matter. But that is an image, perception or effectiveness issue – which is of course still important – and not a conflict of interest issue,” he said.
Marlene Farrugia’s resignation came just three days after she had publicly announced her ministerial aide role. She will continue to serve as an MP and it is not known whether she will be reassigned similar duties in another ministry.
The Prime Minister’s office declined to answer further questions about the resignation yesterday, while the Health Ministry did not return a request for comment from Godfrey Farrugia.
His partner – and now former colleague – Marlene ended her resignation announcement by thanking supporters for having stood behind her during the past days.
“I promise them that I will continue to work hard in Parliament as I did during the past five years,” she said.