VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Malta’s Commissioner for Standards in Public Life has warned Prime Minister Robert Abela that recent changes to asset declaration rules for ministers represent a “setback for transparency in public life.”
In a letter dated 6 January and published on Thursday, Chief Justice Emeritus Joseph Azzopardi said Cabinet had scrapped the detailed ministerial declaration form, requiring ministers to file only the less comprehensive form used by ordinary MPs.
“This means that ministers will no longer declare their income, nor the financial investments and bank accounts held by their spouses,” Azzopardi wrote, noting that such information was previously mandatory.
The warning follows months of correspondence after the commissioner sought copies of ministers’ 2024 declarations. He was later informed that Cabinet had opted for a single form for all MPs, and that ministers had already filed declarations using it.
Azzopardi said transparency had been further weakened because ministerial declarations were traditionally tabled in Parliament, while MPs’ declarations are not published.
He also pointed out that the Standards in Public Life Act requires ministers to submit annual asset statements “on the relevant form,” warning that its elimination places ministers in breach of the code of ethics.
The commissioner said the move ran counter to recommendations from his office and the OECD for stronger disclosure rules, and signalled his concern by making the correspondence public.
– Photo IPA Agency –
(ITALPRESS).
