The Cabinet is soon to discuss new communication guidelines to regulate the use of private or personal e-mail addresses when conducting government business, the Times of Malta has learnt.
The move was sparked after it emerged that Education Minister Evarist Bartolo had used his private e-mail account to discuss corruption claims.
A spokesman for the Office of the Prime Minister told Times of Malta that the government was examining different communication options which would include “clear and simple guidelines”, which ministers and parliamentary secretaries would be expected to follow.
Mr Bartolo last week admitted he should not have used a private Hotmail account to handle claims of abuse by a senior official at the Foundation for Tomorrow’s Schools (FTS).
His communication with former FTS CEO Philip Rizzo was tabled in Parliament after Mr Bartolo quoted from it during a parliamentary statement last week.
We are not restricting parameters to try and come up with a simple system that can address this grey area
Mr Rizzo had first brought the e-mail issue to light by advising the minister to “check his Hotmail” when Mr Bartolo said he had been informed of claims of corruption in the issuing of direct orders for the renovation of government schools in August.
Mr Rizzo had drawn parallels with US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s own well-publicised e-mail controversy, a major issue in the recent US election.
Questioned about the matter, Mr Bartolo told Times of Malta: “Administratively it shouldn't happen but it doesn't change the nature of things. Just because you’re using Hotmail it doesn’t mean you’re hiding anything. The information Mr Rizzo received often came through Gmail or Onvol. It’s not the issue.”
Meanwhile, the OPM spokesman said the matter was a complicated one.
“One cannot take lightly the fact that e-mail addresses are carried over a number of years and people tend to keep sending e-mails on the original address they used to correspond with, particularly in a political system where a politician in an executive role has to keep in contact with constituents while separating government work from political work,” he said.
Principal Permanent Secretary Mario Cutajar has confirmed there existed “no such policy regulating the use of private e-mail accounts by public officers”.
Asked whether the government was moving towards a system whereby ministers would only use official ‘@gov.mt’ e-mail addresses, the spokesman would not commit.
However, he said government services including the Malta Information Technology Agency were involved in the process for the new communications guidelines.
“We need to see what the best options are, and we are not restricting parameters to try and come up with a simple system that can address this grey area,” the spokesman said.