Labour MP George Vella told Parliament yesterday good governance was important, but asked whether this was the message the government was conveying. Having many institutions to enhance good governance did not mean anything. What was important was that such institutions were allowed to function properly. The PN preached one thing and practised another.
The Bill amending the Permanent Commission Against Corruption Act was positive in theory but practice was a different story.
The PL had always taken a stand against corruption. In 1993 it had commissioned a report on correct political behaviour and subsequently it had approved a resolution, based on the report, at its general conference.
In 1998, on the Jesuits’ initiative, Lord Nolan had visited Malta and highlighted the principles by which MPs and civil servants had to abide.
Last year, Opposition Leader Joseph Muscat had suggested a parliamentary committee on party financing but the PN had not shown any commitment. The PL was now proposing to remove time-barring for MPs. It was also suggesting a Parliamentary Commissioner to ensure good standards of behaviour. The commissioner should not only advise but criticise a minister who went abroad with businessmen as if nothing had happened.
There had been several shortcomings in the Voice of the Mediterranean Radio, Dr Vella said, but when the Auditor General had highlighted the abuses, Minister Austin Gatt had accused him of being prejudiced against the person that was administering it, who was a former Nationalist MP.
In 1993 he had reported that a woman was receiving money to get people boarded out. This person had since been convicted and given a suspended sentence, but no steps had been taken against the government employees who were her accomplices. The commission against corruption was weak.
While the government claimed it would fight corruption, when the BWSC issue was brought before the Public Accounts Committee, Minister Gatt had smeared former Auditor General Joseph Galea and left no stone unturned to prevent witnesses from being heard.
Dr Vella argued that people should not forget that during the last electoral campaign, a Press Card had been issued to Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando who was not a journalist. The Mepa Auditor’s reports were not made public.
People were aware that the commission did not have the strength to function properly. The opposition was in favour of a commission that would act as a just controller.
The reality was that even fat cats were stratified. The government was now enacting legislation to keep boasting that it was fighting corruption, but it did not allow institutions to function properly.
The commission should monitor the lifestyle of public officers because those who earned €20,000 yearly could not afford villas and luxury boats.
The government had also employed incompetent people so long as they were Nationalist sympathisers.
Dr Vella charged that €80 million had disappeared in the Fairmount case at Malta Drydocks. People had forgotten and paperwork had been stolen. There had also been allegations of a former Police Commissioner leading an indecent life.
The opposition agreed with the Bill and he urged fellow MPs to strengthen the commission in the committee stage, ensuring that people appointed would be the most competent and ensuring effective measures against corrupt persons.