Abolishing ministers' asset declarations provides cover for criminality

Government’s proposed abolition of ministerial asset declarations will provide cover for profiting from conflicts of interest and criminality. The current code of ethics obliges ministers to “immediately provide a statement of his assets and interests to the Cabinet Secretary”. The Minister of Justice has tabled legal amendments that will cancel this obligation. This will further enable the cover up of illicit activity and financial gain.

When Konrad Mizzi’s Panama company and New Zealand trust were first exposed in 2016, then PM Joseph Muscat defended his minister by saying he’d already seen Mizzi’s draft asset declaration. Under the current government’s proposed amendments, a corrupt minister can set up an offshore company and trust and won’t even need to file an asset declaration

The current system of ministers’ asset declarations already severely lacks transparency. Under the government’s proposed regime, even this minimal control will be removed. Minister’s asset declarations are not open to public scrutiny on demand and ministers are not obliged to include assets belonging to their spouses. Roderick Galdes’ extensive property portfolio, built while he was in office, was only exposed thanks to journalism, showing that more transparency is required, not less

The Commissioner for Standards in Public Life had already raised concerns about the removal of ministers’ asset declarations when Prime Minister Abela refused to publish those of his cabinet members. MPs’ annual financial declarations are not a substitute for ministerial declarations, as they are less detailed and they are not published.

It is shocking that ten years after the publication of the Panama Papers, Malta has yet to learn lessons from its failure to protect the public interest. Rather than increasing transparency, the government’s proposed amendments will enable ministers to cover up malfeasance.