Momentum asks standards czar to investigate Cabinet over failure to submit asset declarations
Momentum Chairperson Arnold Cassola accuses ministers of arrogance and disrespect towards citizens after failing to submit asset declarations, asks Standards Commissioner to investigate
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Momentum has asked the Standards Commissioner to investigate all ministers and parliamentary secretaries for their failure to table their declaration of assets for 2023.
Momentum Chairperson Arnold Cassola said in a letter to the commissioner that the declarations had to be tabled by March 2024 and were long overdue.
All Cabinet members, including the Prime Minister, are obliged to table their declaration of assets in parliament in line with the ministerial code of ethics. These are normally tabled around March or April.
However, the asset declarations for 2023 were not tabled last year and remain unavailable to the public.
“Their failure to submit the asset declarations is testimony to their arrogant disrespect towards transparency and the citizen,” Cassola wrote.
In a ruling earlier this week, Speaker Anglu Farrugia said he could not compel the Prime Minister and his Cabinet to table these declarations. The ruling was requested by Opposition MP Karol Aquilina.
However, Farrugia did confirm that asset declarations had been submitted annually following a three-decades-old practice. The Speaker also noted that there have been three occasions over the past 30 years when these declarations were not tabled, with the last occurrence being in 2007.
Nonetheless, the Speaker ruled that the code of ethics was nor enforceable at law and it was really up to the prime minister to decide whether to table the declarations or not.