PN ‘reserves the right’ to take all appropriate action against Edward Scicluna

The Nationalist Party ‘ reserves the right’ to take all appropriate action against the Governor of the Central Bank, Edward Scicluna, “including asking for his resignation or filing a motion of no confidence in parliament,” Opposition Leader Bernard Grech said.

In a press conference on Thursday, the PN leader was asked whether he will call for Scicluna’s resignation. Grech said that “everybody knows that Scicluna still seems to be under criminal investigation today, so it is shameful that Scicluna, in his position, is still being investigated. These are some of the unofficial reasons that other countries might be taking note of,” he said, referring to the country’s FATF greylisting on Wednesday.

“Let’s not delude ourselves into thinking that the political spin that the government tries to make will be the reason we can get out of this situation. To exit this situation, we must take responsible and necessary decisions. Regarding Scicluna, we reserve the right to take any action that we deem appropriate, including, as we did in the past where needed, asking for a resignation or filing a motion of no-confidence in parliament.”

During a press conference Grech as well as PN MPs Kristy Debono and Mario de Marco spoke about the effects of Malta’s greylisting by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Bernard Grech said that Malta deserves to be removed from the grey list, and quickly. He appealed to the Prime Minister that this is a moment that requires national professionalism and responsibility.

“This is not the moment to throw a tantrum or a moment where one tries to show that they can go it alone. Expert advice must be listened to. The Prime Minister needs to consult and dialogue with the social partners as I was and will continue to do… The national interest comes first.”

He said that there are people who believe the PN should be protesting in the street, but said that this is the moment to bring everyone to the table to talk and discuss so that “we can face this challenge together.”

He said that 24 hours have passed since his call for a national task force, and that the government had ridiculed the idea. He again made his appeal to work together.

Grech said he never wanted Malta to be grey listed. “The problem is not Malta, but the politicians who took Malta into this problem.”

Asked about the letter he had written to the FATF last week, prior to the country’s greylisting, and the Prime Minister’s statements that through it Grech wanted Malta to be greylisted, Grech called it PL spin.

He said the PL was trying “to find someone to blame for their own incompetence.”

Grech said that in the letter “I made clear that, despite PL spin, the PN is ready to work in favour of Malta. When the PN was in government we were never in today’s situation and so we have the credentials and the political will to get the country out of this moment.”

Kristy Debono explained that the FATF does not only look at whether a country has the applicable laws, but also at their effective application.

“When a country ends up on the grey list, it means that the international community would be giving them a vote of no confidence.”

She said that this is a major disappointment for Malta, as it became the first EU country to make it to the grey list.

“The FATF was created at end of the 80s, at the same time that Malta started developing under PN governments as a financial centre. So we were always subject to intense evaluation by entities like MONEYVAL and the FATF. So Malta was always grilled, but we were never grey listed before,” she said.

PN MP Mario de Marco said that Malta’s problems began two years ago when the MONEYVAL report found that Malta was noncompliant or only partially compliant on a number of points with regards to the fight against money laundering.

Malta then passed the MONEYVAL test this year, having become compliant or largely compliant on those points. The second test, however, was on effective implementation, “whether the laws and regulations we implemented were really and truly able to fight against money laundering.”

He said that the indications point to Malta failing somewhere on this count.

“Malta did not manage to convince the FATF countries that this government has the will and capacity to implement the laws against money laundering. It means that there is a question regarding the government’s credibility, or lack of.”

The MP said that the many scandals have left an impact on the government’s credibility.

Regarding the economic impact, he said that there could be repercussions regarding investors trust and foreign direct investment, among other things. It will also affect multiple sectors, including financial services, gaming, tourism, real estate as they are all tied to each other.