Standards commissioner finds Minister Chris Bonett in breach of ethics

Standards Commissioner Joseph Azzopardi has found Minister Chris Bonett guilty of breaching the parliamentary code of ethics.

The breach concerns a government statement published through the Department of Information that included partisan allegations against the Nationalist Party. The statement had been published in reaction to a press conference held by the Nationalist Party on traffic management.

The complaint had been filed in July by Nationalist MPs Mark Anthony Sammut and Joe Giglio, both of whom spoke at the press conference.

In a Facebook post, Sammut said the complaint argued that Bonett had failed to keep his role as a government minister separate from that of a party politician, and that he had misused state resources for political propaganda rather than for providing factual information.

The Standards Commissioner has now sent his report to the Parliamentary Committee for Standards in Public Life for further consideration and possible action.

Last September, the commissioner found Minister Miriam Dalli similarly in breach of the ministerial code of ethics over a partisan government statement published by her ministry. However, the commissioner considered the case closed after the minister apologised. 

While the report has yet to be published, Sammut insisted that its referral to the committee confirms that the Commissioner found Bonett in breach of the code.

Sammut also announced that he will recuse himself from the committee’s discussions on the case, since the complaint originated from his press conference. He said this would allow the Opposition Leader to appoint a substitute member in his place.

“This is what political correctness demands,” the PN MP wrote.