Govt ‘desperate to keep lid’ on audit report, GSD says

The GSD said the revelations in the Principal Auditor’s 2018/19 report meant it was unsurprising that the Government had “engineered delay and obstruction” in its publication ahead of the Budget.

In the latest exchange in the row over publication of the report, the Opposition said this and delays with other reports had “benefitted” the Government.

In a statement, the GSD said it was “clear” that Chief Minister Fabian Picardo had the report on June 13, the same day it was delivered to Parliament.

It said it was therefore inexplicable why the report was not tabled in Parliament at the first opportunity on June 23, 10 days later even, if there were concerns about how it had been delivered to Parliament.

The report was tabled by the Chief Minister on July 8, after the Budget debate, something the GSD said it predicted because Mr Picardo “wanted to ensure the report did not surface until after that debate”.

The Government was “desperate to keep the lid on it” given its contents.

“The GSD will protect the people of Gibraltar and our constitution,” the party said.

“Parliament is supposed to keep the Government in check, not defer to it or consult it on practice.”

“It is clear from the report that it has done that in the past which has given the Principal Auditor cause for concern.”

Keith Azopardi, the Leader of the Opposition, added: “If things happen that infringe democratic practices or good governance or the constitution we will call it out as we see it.”

“The fact is that the tabling in Parliament was mishandled and could have been resolved much earlier allowing the report to surface before the Budget debate.”

“The Chief Minister could easily have laid it on the 23 June 2025. He chose not to.”

“In fact, given the insignificant time that has elapsed since its ‘retrieval’ and re-delivery it must be exactly the same report that was delivered and tabled on 8 July.”

“This game of pass the parcel has made a farce of financial good governance and the only beneficiary has been the GSLP Government that it turns out had the report all the time since 13 June and knew its contents and must have been desperate to keep it out of the public domain during the budget.”