Malta – Engagement of MPs as persons of trust possibly constitutes a breach of the Constitution
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The Commissioner for Standards in Public Life has issued a report calling for an end to the practice of giving backbench members of Parliament jobs or consultancies with the government.
The report describes the practice as “fundamentally wrong”.
The Commissioner concluded that this practice dilutes Parliament’s role of scrutinising the Executive; goes against the underlying principles of the Constitution; goes against the Code of Ethics of Public Employees and Board Members; places MPs in a position of financial dependence on the Executive and hence reduces the independence of MPs; discriminates between Government and Opposition MPs and gives Government MPs an advantage over Opposition MPs; overly politicises statutory bodies and distorts their independence from the Government of the day; exacerbates the questionable practice of appointment of persons of trust, that possibly goes against article 110 of the Constitution; and creates unnecessary jobs, or else fills genuine vacancies with persons who are not necessarily best suited for that job, against principles of transparency and meritocracy.
Moreover, the engagement of MPs as persons of trust possibly constitutes a breach of article 55(1)(g) of the Constitution, although this would need to be determined by the Constitutional Court.
The Commissioner declared his intention to revisit the issues raised in his report in due course in the light of any action that may be taken in the interim.
