President pledges unity

George Vella was sworn in as Malta’s 10th President and pledged to work “unceasingly” to strengthen national unity. Dr Vella, 76, succeeded Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca. He insisted during his inaugural speech that one of his priorities would be that of seeking to heal divisions, including those caused by the blots on Malta’s character caused by the murders of Karin Grech, Raymond Caruana and Daphne Caruana Galizia.

What made the headlines

Son pleads not guilty to killing mother, sister: Joseph Bonnici, 38, of Għaxaq, admitted to the police during interrogation that he had murdered his mother and sister, Maria Lourdes Bonnici, 70 and Angele Bonnici, 29, and he also took investigators to the field in Għaxaq where he had dumped the bodies, a court was told. Mr Bonnici was arraigned the day after the bodies were found, and was charged with the double murder. He pleaded not guilty. The victims are believed to have been shot in their home in Għaxaq and then taken to the field where their bodies were later discovered.

Gaffarena-scandal protagonist gets top job at Lands Authority: A civil servant who had a central role in the Valletta property scandal that led to the resignation of a parliamentary secretary has been given an executive position at the Lands Authority, the Times of Malta revealed. Charles Camilleri, who the Auditor General had found “colluded” with Mark Gaffarena in the shady Old Mint Street property deal, was appointed acting chief officer for estate management. This is the same office he managed prior to his resignation in the wake of the Gaffarena scandal. However, in a letter published in the Times of Malta the day after this story appeared, Mr Camilleri said that immediately after the National Audit Office published its report he personally questioned these findings through an affidavit outlining his strong reservations. He also appeared before the Public Accounts Committee and was questioned by the police, neither of whom recommended any action against him. He said he had resigned his position at the Government Property Division at the time to be able to defend his integrity.

‘Forged’ signature documents linked to shelf firm: Documents containing Opposition leader Adrian Delia’s ‘forged’ signature are linked to a shelf company which was one of several beneficiaries of suspicious payments believed to have originated from a London prostitution racket, the Times of Malta reported. Dr Delia had gone to the authorities with documents which he says had his forged signature and asked them to investigate whether they were in any way linked to the findings of a money laundering probe, of which he was the subject last year.

Public prosecutor to be appointed by the government: The person who eventually takes up the role of public prosecutor under proposed reforms will be a government appointee, Justice Minister Owen Bonnici confirmed to the Times of Malta. It was announced last month that the government would be hiving off the prosecution role from the Attorney General’s functions. Legal observers have raised concerns that splitting the prosecution role from the Attorney General’s functions would have little effect when it came to high-level corruption cases involving government officials if the public prosecutor was a “friendly figure” chosen by the government. The report by Greco, the Council of Europe’s anti-corruption watchdog, leaked in The Sunday Times of Malta, notes that the criminal justice response to government corruption can too easily be paralysed where political influences come into play.

Cleaning contracts abuses spread to Mt Carmel as ‘cleaners’ abound: Abuse in the procurement and management of cleaning service contracts at Mount Carmel hospital, reported by the Times of Malta several weeks ago, have been confirmed through a new audit by the National Audit Office. The disregard to public procurement rules by the Health Ministry was only discovered by chance, during a separate investigation by the NAO of another contract, for clerical services, which was also found to be grossly irregular.

Panama Papers yield €9m in taxes: Just over €9 million was recovered by the taxman after offshore dealings were exposed in the Panama Papers three years ago, according to information supplied to the Times of Malta by the Tax Compliance Unit. A total of 237 taxpayers in Malta featured in the Panama Papers – 163 individuals, 62 companies and 12 trustees. Taxmen in 22 countries worldwide raked in more than €1 billion in fines and arrears following investigations into the data exposed by the Panama Papers.

Maltese priest appointed bishop in Peru: Fr Giovanni Cefai was appointed bishop of the newly set up territorial prelature of Santiago Apóstol de Huancané in Peru, which is part of the archdiocese of Arequipa and which consists of 20 parishes with a population of 200,000 people. Fr Cefai was ordained as a priest in 1997 and was parish priest of the parishes of Santa Cruz and San Pablo Apóstol, both in Arequipa. He was also regional superior of the St Paul Missionary Society in Peru.

What trended

‘Ma Tagħmlu Xejn’

The Commissioner for Standards in Public Life announced this week that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s behaviour at a party in his official residence at Girgenti Palace did not constitute a breach of ethics. Not surprisingly, this led to a mixed reaction online.

In the leaked video, Dr Muscat can be seen jumping and chanting with the crowd to the former Mintoffian tune Ma Tagħmlu Xejn while his wife Michelle dances in front of him, waving a bottle of champagne.

“But it was Joseph Muscat himself who was singing the partisan Mintoffian chant Ma Tagħmlu Xejn, not only the guests. Muscat was not just singing but also jumping to the tune. That must have escaped the notice of the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life,” said Dennis.

Anna believes the whole episode was “no big deal” and that the important thing is that the party was not financed through public funds.

To which John replied: “Why? The majority of Maltese elected him as Prime Minister, why not let them enjoy the champagne on the house?”

Toni believed everything was wrong: “A private event in a public place paid by public funds, all ethics were broken!”

Mario disagreed: “The place is the Prime Minister’s official residence which in any case, even if there was no party, it is paid by public funds. But still it can be used by the Prime Minister to host a private party.”

“I’m no fan of Muscat but everyone deserves to have some fun,” Drin remarked.

Paul summed it up this way: “The first flop decision taken by the Commissioner for Standards for Public life.”

Presidential trips

Many online readers expressed their views on the fact that former president Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca made 89 trips abroad during her term of office, costing taxpayers around €2.5 million in travel expenses.

“Shocking news, total waste of money. The Office of President should be abolished, I criticised it under the PN too, especially when Eddie Fenech Adami anointed himself President of Malta, he just lacked a crown. This money could have been used to employ more hospital consultants and cut waiting lists,” P said.

“€2.6 million squandered on ceremonial and entertainment travel with not one euro benefit for taxpayers,” Francis said.

But George thought such criticism was unfair. “Are you aware that most of these trips were imposed on her because of her position, and very often she led business delegations? If you wish to focus on costs, you cannot do this without considering the economic benefits that such trips bring about. And the economic results are there for all to see.”

What they said

“It is very attractive to base politics on the building of walls. But after you build walls all around you, you soon realise you have imprisoned yourself.”

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat addressing party supporters in Mtarfa on the significance of ‘Freedom Day’.

“The police cannot be at every party, wedding or family event to monitor what people are drinking.”

Transport Minister Ian Borg speaking to the Times of Malta in reaction to reports about poor drink-driving enforcement by the police.

“Somebody leaked this document midway through this process. We are in the eighth phase of 15. This was confidential, as it would only be fair to publish it at the end when the process is complete.”

Finance Minister Edward Scicluna addressing the social partners where he disputed Malta’s poor showing in a recent evaluation by Moneyval of its anti-money laundering regime, on the grounds that the findings were “leaked” midway through the process.

“I hope to continue witnessing the respect that has been shown thus far towards the ethical and moral bases of the medical profession, above all, respect for life, from its very inception to the individual’s very last breath.”

President George Vella, sending out a strong pro-life message in his inaugural address.

“The President of the Republic has the privilege to be the Head of State. We want to see in him a defender of Malta’s heritage in every sense – cultural, historical, artistic, architectural and natural.”

Archbishop Charles Scicluna speaking during Mass at St John’s Co-Cathedral before the swearing-in of George Vella as Malta’s President.