Nationalist Party presents motion for discussion on EP rule of law report
The Opposition yesterday filed a motion for the House of Representatives to discuss the European Parliament’s rule of law report published on 11 January.
PN deputy leader David Agius, Whip Robert Cutajar and MP Jason Azzopardi presented the motion to the Speaker of the House Anglu Farrugia.
The report was published after a European Parliament delegation visited Malta in November with the aim of “investigating alleged contraventions and maladministration in the application of union law in relation to money laundering, tax avoidance and tax evasion”.
The Opposition is asking to discuss the 13 recommendations made by the committee, which deal with the rule of law in Malta, financial services, money laundering, Pilatus Bank and whistle blowers, Azzopardi said.
Both Agius and Azzopardi stressed the serious recommendations given by this report with Azzopardi criticising the fact that Maltese parliament has not yet tackled what was discussed at the European Parliamentary level - “it cannot be that this report passes as if nothing happened,” he said.
The EP report pointed out that the European Commission is seeing whether Maltese authorities are implementing European directives against money laundering, especially in that to do with due diligence, and that the European Union banking authority is seeing that Malta Financial Services Authority is taking her obligations as a regulator in view of lacking action against Pilatus Bank and Nexia BT and how these still have a licence to operate in the European Union.
It recommended that the post of Attorney General should be reformed in order to separate the role of Prosecutor and that of legal consultant to the government, and that that the Police Commissioner should no longer appointed by the Prime Minister.
The report also stated that, “those Maltese public officials that are implicated in active corruption and money laundering which resulted from the reveal of the Panama Papers and other diverse reports of the FIAU are to be removed from their post and brought to justice because by not doing so it continues to increase the perception of impunity and more damage is done to the State.”
The Opposition declared that the report itself was a major set- back and a serious threat to all those thousands of Maltese and Gozitan professionals and employees that in the last few years worked to build a financial service with an impeccable reputation, which is attractive and a magnet for investment which has created thousands of jobs in our country.
In conclusion the Opposition called for Parliament to discuss, analyse and resolve in favour of these recommendations found in the report and for them to be implemented by Government as soon as possible.
Reacting, the Labour Party said Azzopardi was “doing all he could” to help colleague David Casa “remain relevant.”
It said the PN MEP was being shunned by certain quarters of the party.
It said the EP report had already been discussed in Brussels but the government had no problem to debate it in the Maltese Parliament.
On the other hand, it said, if the PN wants to be credible it should launch a section on tax evasion and on how those who wanted the rule of law paid their taxes, in a clear reference to PN Leader Adrian Delia, who still has an unsettled tax bill amounting to around €80,000.