PD leader: I’m now convinced Konrad Mizzi should no longer remain part of Cabinet

Godfrey Farrugia, leader of Partit Demokratiku, explained in a video message yesterday that he tabled the no confidence motion in Minister Konrad Mizzi because he “is now convinced that Konrad Mizzi’s place is no longer in the cabinet of Ministers”.

Farrugia, who became Partit Demokratiku Leader in October, made the remark when referring to “conversations” and “events that happened behind the scenes” following the publication of the Panama Papers.

Partit Demokratiku MPs moved a motion of no confidence in Minister Mizzi on Friday following the publication of revelations that 17 Black, a company identified by advisors to Minister Mizzi of his secret Panama company, was owned by Yorgen Fenech, CEO of Tumas Group, a member of Electrogas, the consortium that was awarded the contract for the construction and operation of a gasfired power station in Delimara.

Farrugia said that he moved the motion of no confidence in Mizzi for the same reason that he left the Labour Government in 2017 because “nobody shouldered political responsibility for wrongdoing”.

Farrugia expressed disappointment at the way the government was behaving, complaining that what essentially started as “a good government” in 2013 “took a wrong turn and stopped remedying its wrongdoings”.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had hinted during the 2017 election campaign that he would take action against Konrad Mizzi and Chief of Staff Keith Schembri if reelected.

“First of all, it would never occur to me to steal the people’s money, however, if it had been me who stole people’s money, I would have resigned on the spot,” Farrugia remarked.

In a blog post published on Newsbook earlier yesterday, Farrugia remarked that Malta does not belong to a core group of a few and that the Maltese people could not be manipulated to cover up for the misdeeds of politicians.