The controversy over army complaints escalated yesterday, with Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia openly contesting the stand taken by Ombudsman Joseph Said Pullicino.

Dr Mallia insisted the Ombudsman was wrong when he argued he had every right to investigate complaints over appointments, promotions, pay and pension rights in the Armed Forces of Malta.

The minister is basing his case on a ruling given by former Ombudsman Joe Sammut in 2003. However, Dr Said Pullicino is arguing that his predecessor’s “correspondence” was “manifestly mistaken”.

It seems he changed his mind as he is now saying this was a mistake committed by an official in his office

He backs his argument with an agreement reached in 2011 which established the procedure that army officers could use to file complaints with the Ombudsman’s office.

Dr Mallia was yesterday asked by Times of Malta to react to the Ombudsman’s stand during a visit to the new police academy in Ta’ Kandja, after having failed to reply to questions for two days.

“If the Ombudsman wants to probe such cases he may do so, but we believe that the Ombudsman had previously ruled that his office had no right to investigate,” the Home Affairs Minister replied, referring to the former Ombudsman.

“It seems he changed his mind as he is now saying this was a mistake committed by an official in his office,” Dr Mallia added. He pointed out that the Ombudsman had signed the ruling, so cautioned against going outside the parameters of the law.

Asked about a point that has been raised by Dr Said Pullicino – that the army and other entities were resisting requests to submit their actions for scrutiny – Dr Mallia said this was not an appropriate time to delve into such a “vast” subject.

The controversy was triggered following a request filed by Opposition MP Jason Azzopardi for the Ombudsman to probe the methodology of an army complaints board set up last year. However, the government turned down this call during a House Business Committee meeting last Friday.

Army promotions are no strangers to controversy and the debate surfaces from time to time, especially whenever there is a change in government. In 2002, the former Ombudsman had chided the Nationalist government for the manner in which army promotions were handled.

The position adopted by the Labour Opposition at the time was more open to the Ombudsman. Labour leader Alfred Sant had called on the government to invite him to testify in Parliament as part of a wider debate on his damning report.

Meanwhile, Dr Azzopardi yesterday issued a statement accusing Dr Mallia of perpetuating injustices in the army and in the police force, while refusing to heed calls for the Ombudsman to scrutinise the government’s decisions.

In a reply, the ministry accused the PN of arrogance, saying that before the election 300 transfers had taken place in the police.