GSD accuses Govt of ‘playing the man and not the ball’ in response to audit report

The GSD accused the Gibraltar Government on Friday of “trashing” the former Principal Auditor, Anthony Sacramento, following publication of the Principal Auditor’s report for 2018/19, adding the Government was “playing the man and not the ball” in a bid to distract from the report’s findings of “waste and financial mismanagement”.

The Opposition was reacting after the Government voiced deep concern over the “content, tone and methodology” of the 500-page report, insisting the document contained multiple factual inaccuracies, selective disclosures and conclusions it described as “unjustified and politically loaded”.

For the Government, the report lacked credibility and failed to adhere to accepted international auditing and ethical standards.

But the GSD said that given the report’s “shocking revelations”, the Government’s reaction was “remarkable, unprecedented, disrespectful” of Mr Sacramento’s role, and a “complete contradiction” of its earlier statements.

The GSD said Mr Sacramento was a senior public servant who had spent 37 years in the audit office and had recently been praised by the Government itself.

The Opposition noted that just last April, as Mr Sacramento prepared to retire, the Government had praised and congratulated him for his professionalism and dedication over many years.

The GSD said Chief Minister Fabian Picardo at the time also highlighted the importance of the Principal Auditor’s role and its independence, and that the holder of the post “must be free to say and not say what he wants, when he wants and should not be submitted to public statements by politicians suggesting one view or another as a better position.”

Mr Picardo also added that the Government would continue to uphold and respect the independence of the Office of the Principal Auditor and provide full cooperation in ensuring the audit of public finances continued in line with established practice and statutory responsibility.

“For the GSLP government now to trash and personally attack the Principal Auditor as politically charged and biased is a massive u-turn on the position they took only five weeks ago,” the Opposition statement said.

“It is also unprecedented and shows how little they have to say on the substance of the report.”

It said the Government did not like the conclusions of the report and had turned on the former Principal Auditor, accusing it of “unbelievable” political hypocrisy “symptomatic” of its approach to politics.

“Very serious findings are reached in this report,” said Keith Azopardi, the Leader of the Opposition.

“It shows that the Government have nothing to say when all it can do is play the man and not the ball to distract from the litany of waste and financial mismanagement.”

“What happened to the statement they made a few weeks ago that the Auditor ‘…must be free to say and not say what he wants, when he wants’?”

“The hypocrisy is stunning. It’s akin to – ‘it wasn’t me.’ It’s everyone else’s fault but never the GSLP’s.”

“Are they saying the ex-gratia payments haven’t been made or the massive overtime hasn’t been paid?”

“Or that contracts went to tender properly when they didn’t?”

“The fact is that this GSLP have nowhere to hide on this report.”

“This is precisely why they have created a six-year time-lag to these reports and blocked the Auditor’s work for years making sure these reports could not come out before the last election.”

“They simply do not want these financial transactions to come out and for the public to be aware of these.”