Update: Clayton Bartolo has resigned from his position as Tourism Minister. He presented his letter of resignation to Prime Minister Robert Abela on Tuesday morning.

This follows an investigation by Malta’s Commissioner for Standards in Public Life which found that both Bartolo and Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri “abused their power and violated Ministerial ethics” by securing a public position for Bartolo’s wife, Amanda Muscat and for which she had no qualifications for.

Prime Minister Robert Abela confirmed the resignation on Tuesday morning to journalists and also said that Bartolo would no longer be representing Labour in Parliament, and would be an independent MP.

Abela advised that the decision had been made after information came to light in “recent hours” that are separate from the findings of the Standards Commissioner and had Bartolo therefore been expelled from the Labour Party Parliamentary Group. He did not give any details relating to the information.

He also stated after questions from the media, that Amanda Muscat would be refunding the excess payments she had received.

The Prime Minister said that Ian Borg would be taking on the role of Tourism Minister.

Some three weeks have passed since the report was published, with its findings unanimously endorsed last week by the Parliamentary Committee for Standards in Public Life.

There have been a flood of calls for the resignation of both Ministers concerned, which until today have been ignored.

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