‘I would never let PL be harmed by plot to frame up any of its members’ – Chris Cardona

“I would never let the PL be harmed by any plot or attempt to harm or frame up any of its members,” PL deputy leader Chris Cardona told The Malta Independent yesterday.

Cardona was contacted by this newsroom after Prime Minister Robert Abela Monday said that he is convinced that the former MP and Economy Minister would “take all the necessary decisions so that he does not damage the Labour Party”.

Abela was asked by this newsroom whether the Labour Party should dismiss Cardona from his role as Deputy Leader, after the government had suspended former Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar from his consultancy role after his name cropped up in the investigation into the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Cardona’s name also cropped up in the compilation of evidence against Yorgen Fenech, who stands charged with masterminding the murder, as proceedings got underway again, with a number of allegations – including that he had facilitated a payment to the killers through one of his canvassers – being levelled against him.

Cardona denied all the allegations, arguing that they were based on hearsay and not on evidence and that the allegations are part of a frameup.

Asked by The Malta Inde

pendent on Tuesday how he had interpreted the Prime Minister’s words on Monday evening, and whether he will be suspending himself from the Labour Party’s leadership, Cardona said that what he has discussed privately with Abela “remains confidential”.

“However, I agree with the Prime Minister’s assertion and I would never let the PL be harmed by any plot or attempt to harm or frame up any of its members, and of course I would never tolerate anyone who attempts to harm the party,” he said.

Asked, as a follow-up to this, whether he felt that the frameup he has been claiming is being done to him was aimed more at the Labour Party rather than at him personally, Cardona noted that the attempt happened when he was still a minister in Joseph Muscat’s cabinet and Deputy Leader of the PL.

“Whoever plotted [the frameup] knew very well that the effects would have a direct impact on the leadership of the party”, he said.

Also asked whether his initial response implied that he was considering or going to resign from the party’s leadership structures, Cardona remained unclear with his intentions, stating that this question refers to what was discussed with the Prime Minister, and is hence confidential.

Cardona is no longer a member of parliament after he resigned last April; however he remains the Labour Party’s Deputy Leader.