PM does not feel voters should know if he would keep Keith Schembri
I will make my choice and will carry responsibility for those choices
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat does not believe voters have a right to know whether or not he intends to keep Keith Schembri as part of his team should he be re-elected.
Leader of the Nationalist Party Simon Busuttil has alleged that OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri took kickbacks for the sale of citizenship. Mr Schembri has also been at the centre of the Panama Papers scandal, which revealed that he had opened companies in Panama and the British Virgin Islands.
The Malta Independent asked the Prime Minister, during a press conference held at Mater Dei Hospital, whether he would give a straight answer as to whether Keith Schembri would be kept on his team should he be re-elected and whether he believes the public has a right to know, given everything that has happened.
In response, the Prime Minister said: “I take decisions responsibly and will carry that responsibility after the electoral result. If I lose the election, I will resign immediately. If I win and retain the people’s trust, I will make my choice and will carry responsibility for those choices.”
He was asked who he would vote for if he was faced with one party that was shrouded in corruption allegations and another party that he had policy concerns. “I would base my decision on fact. Facts show that this government has delivered over the past four years and has kept its promises. Allegations are simply allegations, and are, and will, remain baseless lies.”
PM Muscat, asked whether he agrees that the police had to investigate Keith Schembri as per reports regarding an FIAU report, said that he would not comment on a report which he did not see and which was published “dubiously.”
“In the near future, we should have insight as to how this report was carried out.”
As for allegations that his wife owns the Panama company Egrant Inc, Muscat called it “a complete lie,” adding that this lie is what resulted in a European Parliamentary Committee calling him to appear before them.
“When something similar happened to French President-Elect Macron, he said, and no proof was brought forward, it was said that there was no evidence and nothing could happen. When it comes to me, there is a witch-hunt based on proof which is falsified, if it ever existed in the first place.
“I look forward to the report of the magisterial inquiry. If the magistrate finds that I am guilty of any of the allegations, then I will leave there and then.” He said that PN leader Simon Busuttil should do the same if the report finds him innocent.