LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe is proposing several measures to the Maltese authorities which will provide more integrity and political transparency by public officials.
The proposals were made public during the presenation of the fourth report published by OECD aimed at strengthening standards of public life and provide greater Government transparency in Malta. The report was jointly prepared together with Commissioner for Public Standard George Hyzler.
The OSCE is suggesting among other recommendations a change in the Code of Ethics for Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries as well as all Members of Parliament.
It is also proposing that the Maltese Members of Parliament should not have secondary employment with Government.
Another proposal is the setting up of a register in which all Members of Parliaments will declare all gifts, benefits and donations given to them and their relatives, and even those that are not accepted. The OSCE is also recommending that the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life should decide whether the gifts should be accepted, or not and that there should be a limit on the value of gifts.
Carissa Munro, Policy Analyst with OECD also said, “we are recommending that the Government adopt a Law on the regulation of lobbying, that it focuses on the issue of transparency, both who is lobbying who, on what issues and also that incorporates issues of integrity so that public officials will know what it means to uphold integrity standards when they engage with lobbyists and third parties”.
Munro added that Malta faces the further issue of being a small country and its Parliament operates part-time, hence the reasons for the proposals.
(ITALPRESS).
– photo by Department of Information –
