Labour president on Carmelo Abela: 'Too early to say whether €7,000 should be refunded'

Labour Party President Ramona Attard has said that it is still too early to say whether €7,000 spent on a political advert by Minister Carmelo Abela should be refunded.  

The Standards Commissioner report found that Abela's conduct breached several articles of the Code of Ethics for Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries. The report concerned an advertising campaign in print media by the Ministry within the Office of the Prime Minister, headed by Abela, which included a large portrait of the minister.

In his report, the Standards Commissioner concluded the advert was "clearly intended to boost the image of Minister Carmelo Abela rather than provide any information of value to the general public, given the prominence of the photograph and the absence of informative content on the work of the ministry".  

Attard said that commenting at this stage would prejudice the parliamentary process that is underway.

The PL president also expressed her belief in the institutions, stating the case will now be discussed at the parliamentary committee for standards in public life. 

Attard was asked about the Abela incident during a press conference with Labour candidate Jonathan Attard on the gender parity mechanism that was approved by parliament yesterday.

Jonathan Attard said the reform is another one in a list of reforms carried out by the Labour government.  

"With collective work and wide consultation, we have put forward to parliament a mechanism that will encourage continued balance in the House. This is a law that does not discriminate between sexes," he said.