Central Bank of Malta governor formally ‘steps aside’ temporarily

Edward Scicluna has formally announced his decision to “step side” from governor of the Central Bank of Malta to “defend his innocence”.  

The announcement was made by the CBM in a statement released 24 hours after Cabinet settled for a compromise solution following Scicluna’s refusal to resign.

“The governor of the Central Bank of Malta, Professor Edward Scicluna, is announcing his decision to step aside from the exercise of his function, in order to devote more time to defend his innocence which he reaffirms, for a temporary period, until the outcome of the court proceedings,” the statement reads.

Scicluna also designated Deputy Governor Alexander Demarco to “exercise the powers and perform the duties of the governor” throughout this period. The transfer of responsibility will happen on Thursday, 1 August.

Last week, Scicluna was formally indicted in the Vitals corruption case after a magistrate ruled there was enough prima facie evidence for him and others to stand trial.

Scicluna disregarded several calls for his resignation, insisting that it was not up to the government or the Opposition to remove him from governor.

The Prime Minister hinted last week that unless Scicluna resigned, Cabinet would act to remove him forcibly. However, Robert Abela had to recant after ministers questioned the dubious legal grounds for such a removal. Eventually, a compromise was found with Scicluna agreeing to auto-suspend himself while still getting paid in full.

The CBM said the decision has been communicated to the President of the European Central Bank Christine Lagarde. And in a note to reaffirm what Cabinet said in its statement from yesterday, the CBM said: “The Cabinet of Ministers has taken note of this decision and finds it to be in the national interest.”

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