Castille has become a monument to corruption – Beppe Fenech Adami

Julian Bonnici Castille – the Prime Minister’s office – has become a monument to corruption, given the large number of scandals in which Joseph Muscat and the people working there have been involved, Nationalist Party leader Beppe Fenech Adami said yesterday morning at the sole PN press conference called yesterday.

Speaking in front of Auberge de Castille, Dr Fenech Adami mentioned Minister Konrad Mizzi, OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri and financial adviser Brian Tonna as having offices in the building. All of them have been involved in the Panama Papers revelations and the scandal continued to grow to the extent that it forced the Prime Minister to call an early election.

Dr Fenech Adami also referred to a story published in The Malta Independent on Friday, which he said caught the Prime Minister in another lie. Joseph Muscat had said that any transaction can be traced via what is known as a SWIFT programme. But, according to a report by the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit, such records were not registered by Pilatus Bank.

The PN Deputy Leader also noted the ‘irony of credibility’ in the Labour Party’s ‘ferocious’ attempt to discredit the whistleblower in the Egrant allegations, and the stark contrast between the Labour Government that introduced the Whistleblower Act and condemned the PN for questioning the whistleblower in the Giovanna Debono case a couple of years ago.

Marijuana legalisation

Following Friday’s announcement that the PL, PN and PD would all support a national discussion on the legalisation of cannabis, this newspaper asked Dr Fenech Adami whether or not he was personally in favour of or against legalisation, and if the PN’s announcement was a knee-jerk reaction to the PM’s declaration an hour earlier.

“It was absolutely not a reaction. We understand that there are varying opinions on the issue, which is why we are supporting a national discussion. However, announcing it two weeks before a general election is an attempt to buy votes and not an informed discussion.”

Dr Fenech Adami also said that the PN’s position had been discussed with the PD beforehand.

PN’s Gozo proposal

Dr Fenech Adami was also able to provide a concrete structure to the PN pledge of €10,000 as a financial incentive for every young couple who are starting a family and settling in Gozo.

He said that it would be available to 3,000 people, or 1,500 couples, and would cost approximately €3 million a year.