Bartolo kicked out of PL parliamentary group as new ‘circumstances’ emerge – PM Abela

Clayton Bartolo has not only resigned as Tourism Minister, but he has also been kicked out of the Labour Party parliamentary group as new circumstances have emerged, Prime Minister Robert Abela said Tuesday.

Speaking to journalists, Abela said that Bartolo will no longer represent the Labour Party in Parliament but will retain his seat as an independent MP.

The Prime Minister said that the decision was made in the light of different circumstances to those that followed the publication of a report by the Standards Commissioner into the ethics breach.

Foreign Minister Ian Borg is set to take over the responsibilities as Tourism Minister.  Borg is also Deputy Prime Minister.

Abela would not say what these new circumstances were, but he said that Bartolo’s wife Amanda Muscat will be refunding the excess payments she received as a fictitious consultant.

Abela refused to say that Bartolo had been sacked. “I called him and a decision was taken,” in the national interest Abela said, adding that Bartolo will be in a better position to defend himself.

The Standards Commissioner had found that Amanda Muscat, now Bartolo’s wife, was first promoted from being Bartolo’s personal assistant to his consultant with an increased salary of almost €62,000 and, later, this was upped to €68,000 when she moved to Camilleri’s ministry in 2021.

The report found that Muscat did not do consultancy work. By and large she continued to work as Bartolo’s private secretary, with a consultant’s salary, even when she was employed with Camilleri.

The Standards Commissioner’s report was unanimously endorsed by the parliamentary Standards Committee, which is set to meet again tomorrow Wednesday to hear out the two ministers.

But the fresh allegations made have thrown a new light onto the situation.