Cassola asks Standards Commissioner to investigate allegation that MP asked to jump COVID-19 vaccine queue

Arnold Cassola has asked Standards Commissioner George Hyzler to investigate allegations made by the Health Minister that an MP asked to jump the coronavirus vaccine queue.

The independent candidate said Chris Fearne’s claim was of “grave concern” if true, especially if such a request came from a representative of the people.

“That this request is made by a representative of the people is doubly grave not only because it betrays people’s trust but because it comes from someone who should lead by example,” Cassola wrote in his letter to Hyzler.

He said jumping a queue is a serious matter, more so when there were many vulnerable people, persons with a disability or suffering from chronic illnesses who had still not been vaccinated.

“If this story is untrue, the deputy prime minister should be censored because he would have lied to parliament,” Cassola said.

The Nationalist Party parliamentary group 'unanimously and categorically' denied Fearne's claim. The party said that the government was choosing to use the pandemic to score political points.