PM’s handling of 17 Black revelations shows ‘consistency’ in his decision-making – Ian Borg

● PN ‘certain’ in its approach to 17 Black David Stellini

Transport Minister Ian Borg has said that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s handling of the latest 17 Black revelations shows that he is “consistent” in dealing with such issues involving government ministers.

Asked on the latest episode of Indepth whether Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi and the prime minister’s chief of staff Keith Schembri should, at the very least, be suspended until the outcome of the magisterial inquiries into their Panamanian accounts, Borg told The Malta Independent’s editor-in-chief Rachel Attard that “the people know that the country is being led by a prime minister who has no qualms about taking action when inquiries find the basis for it” – a reference to when Muscat had asked former Ministers Manuel Mallia and Michael Falzon to resign over separate issues.

Addressing Borg, however, Attard pointed out that there was no such inquiry into the Panama Papers as it was being blocked by seven people, including the

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17 Black is different in that it doesn’t deal merely with allegations, but with facts MP Stellini

prime minister, Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi themselves. As a result, she said, the government couldn’t really hide behind the excuse of ongoing inquiries in this case.

Borg replied that those seven people were only exercising their legal rights as they saw fit, and noted that PN MP and former Opposition leader Simon Busuttil had prolonged the process further “because he didn’t like the judge hearing the case.”

Fellow guest PN MP David Stellini, meanwhile, was asked whether he thought the party should be cautious of how it handled these revelations, given the way the Egrant case had panned out. He said the case of 17 Black was different in that it didn’t deal merely with allegations, but with facts. The PN, he said, was confident in its approach as a result.

MP Stellini noted three facts surrounding the case which, he said, indicated a lack of decency and the need to shoulder political responsibility:

That both Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri opened accounts in Panama the day after Labour was elected to government in 2013; That Nexia BT, in an email which has since been leaked, said that these companies would be receiving €150,000 a month from 17 Black; and that 17 Black has now been revealed as belonging to a director of the power station built under Mizzi’s stewardship.

Asked why, given the party’s current approach, Opposition leader Adrian Delia hadn’t suspended himself in the face of serious allegations made against him by the late Daphne Caruana Galizia, Stellini said that suspension was not necessary as those allegations were just that – allegations. “These new revelations, however, are facts.”

It should be noted that The Malta Independent requested the two major political parties to each send a representative to appear on the programme, as opposed to approaching the two guests personally, in which case The Malta Independent would have certainly approached Konrad Mizzi, who is currently avoiding the independent media.

Asked to comment on Mizzi’s continued efforts to dodge the press, including his failure to invite independent media houses to official events, Minister Borg simply said such questions could only be answered by Mizzi himself, adding that he had always invited all the media houses to his ministry’s events.

The latest episode of Indepth can be viewed on The Malta Independent’s web portal www.independent.com.mt