[WATCH] Robert Abela sticks to his guns: any decision on Rosianne Cutajar will be taken after standards czar investigation

Prime Minister Robert Abela has said he will continue to wait for the Standards Commissioner’s verdict before taking further action on Labour MP Rosianne Cutajar.

Cutajar resigned temporarily from her role as parliamentary secretary last week pending the outcome of Standards Commissioner's investigation into her close relationship with murder suspect Yorgen Fenech.

Abela was asked today whether Cutajar’s resignation should be definitive in light of more damning reports on the MP’s closeness with Fenech at a time when she represented Malta in the Council of Europe where calls for a public inquiry into the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder were being made.

Abela said he will let the institutions work and the investigation run its course, and then he would be in a better position to take decisions. 

“I cannot take decisions based on news reports. I will make my decision based on the Standards Commissioner’s conclusions,” he told journalists after exiting a special Cabinet meeting held at the General Workers' Union. 

Cutajar has insisted that she has never done business with Fenech and that she cut off all contact with him once he was charged with masterminding Caruana Galizia's murder.

Cutajar, together with her assistant Charles Farrugia 'it-Tikka', is alleged to have pocketed around €46,500 in undeclared cash from the sale of an Mdina property to Yorgen Fenech - a deal which fell through following Fenech's arrest in November 2019.

Reports on Sunday continued to reveal details about the sale, with Cutajar allegedly telling the owner of the Mdina property that she had counted the cash given to her as commission together with her father.

Hyzler had launched the investigation into Cutajar’s case pon a complaint by independent candidate Arnold Cassola following a MaltaToday report.

Contacted by MaltaToday earlier in February, Hyzler refrained from giving any detail but said the investigation is ongoing.