You have to factor in that John Dalli was an EU Commissioner at the time all that was going on
Published:
July 7, 2013 at 10:26am
Even if we were to bend over backwards to ignore the fact that the woman he had dealings with in the Bahamas, who he and his daughters have dealings with here in Malta, is an international fraudster who uses several aliases and false passports, even if we were to take him at his word that this was all pro bono for charity, there is the following to consider.
Paragraph 1.1 of the European Commissioner’s Code of Conduct states:
Commissioners may not engage in any other professional activity, whether gainful or not.
Perhaps he didn’t read that code of conduct, because like our prime minister with that for Maltese ministers, he thought it too much of a briksa.
6 Comments Comment
Leave a Comment
Did he have some waiver from Barroso then and another one now?
Maybe he’d been given a waiver?
The situation is both pathetic and worrying.
John Dalli tells us that he has the trust of the Prime Minister and he will therefore stay put in his current post.
This is most unusual. It is not for Dalli to say who or who does not have the PM’s trust. It is for the PM himself.
Besides no one believes that Dalli did not, as a minimum, act unethically when he was Commissioner. (There are many who believe that he also committed illegal acts, even if there is not enough evidence to prove it.) No one, except for Saviour Balzan, believes or trusts Dalli.
On the other hand, the Prime Minister has the trust of at least of half the population.
I reiterate therefore it is for the PM to declare clearly and unequivocally whether he has confidence in Dalli. If, as is most likely, he does not have confidence in Dalli, then he is duty-bound to have him removed.
The declarations made by Dalli suggest that it is he who is in control and not the PM, at least on certain matters.
This wasn’t professional. Apparently, it was vocational.
When serious doubts are cast on the integrity of a public official, that official resigns to be able to clear his or her name. Evidently, John Dalli has long forgotten how people behave in decent and civilized democracy.
Incidentally, does the European Commissioner’s Code of Conduct say anything about engagement in political activity of a member state?
Let us not waste more time and get to the point: John Dalli as Commissioner could not engage himself in any professional activity, whether gainfully or not. Even if it is personal or for good cause like charities.
There is the Code of Conduct which he was bound to follow rigorously when he joined the elite but servant position at one of the top posts in the EU structures.
His statement that he “felt no need to report anything” or even worse, declare that “EU should tell him if by not informing them he did something criminal” is sheer arrogance and disrespect to the institution / Commission itself that he was bound to serve and protect.
At least, if he had not respect to adhere to the Code of Conduct, he should respect the 500 million plus of the people in EU.
It is a real case of shame on Mr Dalli.