The Malta Independent on Sunday
‘One person alone will not change the Parliamentary Group’s agenda’ – Delia on Said’s motion
Adrian Delia was reluctant to give a clear yes or no answer to whether or not he would back PN MP Chris Said’s parliamentary motion presented last Tuesday. However, he made it clear that the motion was a ‘personal initiative’ and said that one person on his own will not change the Parliamentary Group’s agenda.
On 31 October, Said presented a private member’s bill in Parliament, signed solely by him, for an investigation to be launched by three former judges into those about whom murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia had written. Controversy arose when the PL insinuated that Said had tabled the bill in a bid to have Delia investigated.
Asked whether he was aware of the contents of Chris Said’s motion, and pressed as to whether or not he would back it, Delia said: “Chris Said attended a Parliamentary Group meeting but didn’t stay for the whole meeting. He said he had something in mind to present a motion.
We were discussing other things when he left, so it was not discussed in the Parliamentary Group and nothing was decided on it.
“On Monday, he told me in Parliament that he wished to present the motion.” Delia said he told Said that before looking into it, the Parliamentary Group had decided to make the proposals they had made earlier (regarding the removal of the Police Commissioner and the Attorney General, laws which can be enacted in six months, etc.) “And so that was the Parliamentary Group’s plan: that we were going to present it to government and, in fact, spoke about it on Monday in Parliament. That was the position and without going into the debate over that motion, it is completely his own personal initiative, taken without it having been debated within the Parliamentary Group.”
Pressed as to whether he will back the motion, again Delia did not give a specific answer, but said: “I clearly explained that the Parliamentary Group has its own work and agenda that is not dictated to by someone who takes a personal initiative on the day and then that jumps ahead of the rest of the agenda. Our Parliamentary Group has a lot of important work and decisions and, for sure, one person on their own will not change its agenda.”
Said’s own statements earlier in the week read that in the Parliamentary Group meeting on 27 October he had said he wanted to present a private motion for three former judges to investigate Daphne Caruana Galizia’s writing, and that on 30 October he passed on a copy to Adrian Delia. He also said that a Deputy Leader had suggested he present it on the Tuesday.
Asked whether he has held the one-on-one meetings with Chris Said and Simon Busuttil, Delia said that he had met with Busuttil many times in the beginning and did not need to have another, stating that they worked together even on the presentation by the PN Parliamentary Group last Monday. He said there were no communication issues with him.
With Chris Said, however: “I had a one-on-one meeting at the beginning. I did not have another but the attitude Chris Said is taking is a bit to act alone (ghal rasu). Everyone knows my door is open and there is space for everyone in the PN, but to move forward and strengthen the party there must be the will from both sides, not just from one.”
Delia, asked what specific measures for institutional reform he has in mind, apart from the two-thirds Parliamentary majority proposal for the positions of Police Commissioner and Attorney General, mentioned the plan the PN proposed in Parliament earlier in the week. “The first part is something that can be done in order to send a message that we recognise the problem: the removal of the Police Commissioner and the AG, and that they be appointed through a two-thirds Parliamentary majority. That is a message and government and the Opposition can tell the people that we recognise there is a problem.
“In the second part, we are saying that in the medium term – around six months – there are a number of laws which can be enacted without changing the Constitution.” As an example, Delia mentioned the setting up of an inquiring magistrate with certain powers to investigate when an investigation is needed. He mentioned that if a person stops someone from voting, or buys a voting document, this is a corrupt practice. “But if you give someone a job a week before an election, is that a corrupt practice? There are laws that need to be changed in order to strengthen the independence and autonomy of everything that is necessary to strengthen democracy.”
Drastic measures
Asked what his next move will be, given that the government does not seem to be going for the removal of the Police Commissioner and the Attor- ney General, Delia said: “The more hard-headed the government is, the more it will be clear that he wants to keep the seat of power in a totalitarian way. It is a delicate moment for the country. In this particular moment, the country must come first, we cannot keep thinking about what is best for the party in government or in opposition. We have lost the luxury of talking about parties at this stage, and we need to talk about what is good for the country. It is important for the good of the country that the message is sent that the government recognises the problem, and if the government remains hard-headed over these two positions, then it means the government is not recognising the problem.”
He said everyone is saying it is clear that the Police Commissioner must leave, that he is not providing assurance to citizens that he can protect them. “He did not protect Daphne Caruana Galizia nor the country from this criminality. The assurance that he can protect the people is not there. If the government remains hard-headed, the Opposition will not only speak, shout and write, but it will take a more drastic positions – one after the other – both inside Parliament and outside, if needed.”
Asked to provide some concrete examples of these drastic measures, Delia said: “In the coming days, we will begin revealing what we decide in the Parliamentary Group, even as from Monday if needed.”
The new way seems like the old?
Delia did not agree with the statement that his new way seems very much like the old way. “Firstly, between what I said in the summer and what is going on today, an overwhelming incident has occurred: something that changes the way you think, reason and look at politics. In the summer, I looked at politics with optimism as to how I would do things, how I was going to plan on subjects such as transport, education, etc., and I spoke about these. I said we also needed to talk about justice and corruption. I said we are not living in a normal country.
“But then something happened that nobody expected could happen in this country. We were arguing, complaining that the government was taking us backwards, but nobody thought we would fall to this low. Everyone was shocked: that makes you think about everything.
“We have the General Council on Sunday, and we chose three themes: Justice – not only for the victim and the family but for us as well, as we have a right to know that the perpetrator will face the consequences. Security – as we want to live in a secure country, and thirdly – if we have those two, liberty. We fought to live in a free country. Then you begin looking forward.”
Delia said that even the way the PN is making criticisms in Parliament and addressing the situation is being done with sensitivity, because the world is watching Malta.
It is not easy, he said, to hear foreigners describe Malta as ‘a Mafia state’ and he does not believe the Maltese are like that.
In the coming days, we will begin revealing what we decide in the Parliamentary Group, even as from Monday if neede
He said that the government needs to accept responsibility for bringing us to this point.
Delia mentioned the Italian anti-mafia commission “who are saying Malta is the place where the Mafia feels comfortable laundering money.
“That hurts and maybe we just couldn’t see it but, at the same time, you must protect your country’s name. I must say that my friends – the professionals I know, the people I see every day – are not like that. We are better than that. We are not going to let our country keep slipping down this slope.”
The Jersey account saga
This newsroom pressed Delia as to why, if he is going to continue speaking about justice and the rule of law, he has not gone to a magistrate and asked for an inquiry into the serious allegations that had been made against him.
“Because it doesn’t work like that at all. You must see what was said and in what context. The allegations about Prime Minister Joseph Muscat at the time were political allegations when he was in politics leading the country. So there was a clear set of circumstances. All the allegations were tied to politics. Looking at the allegations about me, they aren’t even allegations as there must be a basis of something. Someone publishes a photo of someone, writes a short statement, then has another photo of someone else who is a friend of my wife, whose boyfriend has friends who are criminals and they say all my friends are criminals… I’ve been a lawyer for 25 years. The system where one asks the court to confirm that all your friends aren’t criminals doesn’t even exist.”
Delia said that that people do not go to court to ask a magistrate to confirm that they are not drug traffickers. “That is not how things are done.
He said that there was one particular case that involved a client of his, not him personally. He said that the story was about a client of his who, 20 years ago, purchased a property in London. It was at this point that this newsroom mentioned the Jersey bank account.
“We are talking about a client,” said Delia. “If you provide a service to a client, and there is need to open an account for the client, it is not illegal. If a service was offered to a client 20 years ago, and there is nothing illegal, then the client’s property is rented to someone who met someone else and abused of the property, the lawyer of that client has nothing to do with that story.”
He highlighted that a third of the property in Malta belonged to the Church, the government or the ‘barons’, and asked: “So if there is a problem with prostitution in a Maltese street, then does that mean the property owner, or the owner’s lawyer, has something to do with prostitution?”
This newsroom pressed Delia, asking whether he admits that the Jersey bank account was in his name. Delia said that he was more than willing to produce a ‘voluminous file’, saying that we wouldn’t reach any conclusions, asking questions out of context. This newsroom highlighted the fact that it was a simple question.
“It is not a simple question”, said Delia. “It is a simple question if you want an answer which you can then turn around. You must see a whole file, full of documentation, where you will realise that I don’t have that single document. But you must see the other documents. I have never seen that document. You earlier told me to go to court. When you go to court you speak about facts.
“Can I seriously answer questions about a document I didn’t see, when I have all the documents related to this client that I want to show you, and you realise that for this client there were funds transferred from a Maltese bank to buy a property? But you don’t want to know this story, as it is not interesting, it doesn’t sound bad. You have to pick on that one document which I do not have. So then for me to answer you, you have to show me the document and the account, as the account on the documents I have is in my client’s name. If you were to ask me whether I can completely exclude having opened an account 20 years ago, I could take you to my office and show you my archives with thousands of files. I won’t remember something I did 20 years ago, particularly if it wasn’t something irregular.”
Delia mentioned that he had contacted the bank and asked it to send him the records so that he could see what there was. “The bank told me they didn’t have a record of that account as they only hold records for the past six years. Speaking from memory, a transaction like that would not be illegal if I had opened an account. If I knew that dirty money was going in then, yes. So my declaration is as follows: throughout my life I have never made a transaction to accept, take part in or help someone in a transaction involving dirty money. That I can say with certainty.”
He said that when, in the past, he made a statement saying he never had accounts abroad in response to questions, he was speaking about his own funds, “whether I had taken my money and put it abroad. That was the context. We weren’t speaking about client accounts, or an account – even if it was mine – that was being used for a transaction related to a client. That was not the context.” He then invited this newsroom to see all the documentation at a later date, an invitation that this newsroom accepted.
Delia referred to a letter in which he was questioned as to whether he had taken money for himself. “I brought in English advocates in the name of the client, and that accusation was never mentioned again. Their advocates left them. The people making the allegations were found guilty in Malta. So those making that allegation are the criminals. But you have to see everything, you cannot base something on one document that is a lie. Their own English lawyers, who had written that letter, kicked them aside after a month: they didn’t even continue assisting them. The procedures in England found out who was responsible and took proceedings (against them). They didn’t take proceedings against the owner (my client) or me, but against those who were abusing the law. When we had signed the agreement we said the property could not be used for illegal purposes but it was used for something illegal and the police caught them. How can we then conclude that the lawyer of the owner has anything to do with it?”
Taxes and rule of law
Turning to recent revelations that he owed a certain amount in unpaid taxes, Delia was asked if he would pay it and how he could face people and speak about the rule of law, considering this situation.
“Paying taxes and the rule of law don’t have anything to do with each other. I have already said that, by the end of the year, I will have paid and regularised my situation. I had an issue with the amount of interest charged and I am ready to discuss that publicly, as I believe a 12 per cent interest rate is a significant amount when you have a tax issue... I had no problem with making my declarations public before I was obliged to do so. It is something that relates to my passage from private life to public life where, if I am not up to date on something, there will be consequences and I will be paying for those consequences. Anyone who doesn’t pay tax on time must pay, penalties, interest, etc., so I am not evading the law and if I am late I must pay for being late.”
“The rule of law and separation of powers have nothing to do with that. The fact that you are late paying taxes does not mean you have no respect for the authorities. It doesn’t mean that you are breaking the law and therefore have no respect for the law. It is those who evade tax, who earn €100,000 but declare €50,000 – there yes, we can speak about whoever you want, as much as you want. In Malta, there is a culture of people who do not pay tax. There is a black economy of over €280 million. We can talk all you want about this in public, in Parliament, etc., but that is not the rule of law. The rule of law means having strong institutions which carry out their work without interference. It would have been against the rule of law had I expected that there would be some form of abuse or favour for my not having paid my tax: then, yes, that would have been a breach of the rule of law.”