PN calls for urgent Standards Committee meeting to discuss Justyne Caruana

The Nationalist Party has written to the Speaker of the House calling for a Standards Committee meeting to be held this week to discuss Education Minister Justyne Caruana.

"We believe that the Speaker should take the necessary steps and ensure that the Committee on Standards in Public Life meets urgently," the PN said in a statement on Wednesday. 

The letter was signed by MPs Karol Aquilina and Therese Comodini Cachia, who sit on the committee. The PN said that parliament could no longer stand on the sidelines and accept Caruana's abuse of power. "We cannot allow this serious situation to drag on until next year," the party said. 

"The fight against the culture of impunity that has gripped our country must continue every day and in every circumstance, and it cannot stop for the holidays," the MPs insisted. 

The PN said the Constitution obliged the government to be answerable to parliament.

Last Tuesday, MPs on the committee decided to publish the report compiled by Standards Commissioner George Hyzler that found Caruana breached ministerial ethics when she awarded a service contract to her boyfriend, Daniel Bogdanovic.

The damning report found that Bogdanovic was tasked to carry out a study of the sports school, a job he was unsuitable to do. Moreover, Hyzler found that the report, for which Bogdanovic was to be paid €15,000, was compiled by Paul Debattista, a consultant to the minister.

Caruana has so far not given comments on the outcome of the ethics investigation and the permanent secretary in the ministry, Frank Fabri, has ignored questions from this newspaper on his role in the scandal.

READ MORE: Prime Minister puts pressure on Justyne Caruana: 'Everyone has to shoulder their responsibilities'