Zammit Dimech expected to be acting president
Parliament likely to vote on Spiteri Debono on Wednesday
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Malta’s next acting president is expected to be long-time Nationalist politician Francis Zammit Dimech, potentially sealing the first major political consensus between Robert Abela and Bernard Grech.
Sources close to the discussions told Times of Malta that after agreeing to appoint former Labour speaker Myriam Spiteri Debono as Malta’s next president, the prime minister and the opposition leader also reached a preliminary agreement to appoint Zammit Dimech as acting president.
The acting president assumes all the president’s duties whenever the president is abroad or in case she is unable to run her office due to health problems.
This is the first time that a prime minister and an opposition leader have agreed on both appointments simultaneously, in what Labour and PN party insiders are calling a “remarkable” show of goodwill from both leaders, “by showing they can cooperate maturely on matters of national unity”.
After weeks of indecision, Abela and Grech managed to reach agreement in a relatively short period of negotiations and just in time before George Vella’s term ends the week after Easter.
It will only be a done deal, however, after both leaders meet with their respective parliamentary groups early this week and obtain their MPs’ approval on both appointments.
Should MPs give the green light, parliament is expected to approve Spiteri Debono’s appointment on Wednesday, just in time before Easter recess, and she will be sworn in as president the week after.
Unlike the president, the acting president does not need a two-thirds parliamentary majority, has no fixed term, takes an oath of office each time the president is out of the country or in hospital and has the power to fulfil all of the president’s duties, including attending official ceremonies and sign laws.
When contacted, Zammit Dimech, known as a political moderate, would not comment. |
“largest ever pyramid scheme”, Chang Rajii managed to convince around a thousand people to invest with him.
His investment firm Onix promised investors soaring returns such as 1.5 per cent a month for an investment of 200 million pesos ($300,000), according to Bloomberg, who said it had seen a contract.
Investors included several celebrities such as television host Jose Miguel Viñuela, actress Josefina Montané, gymnast Tomás González, and 90-year-old painter Mario Toral.
Part of Chang Rajii’s allure was the image of success he portrayed.
He was often photographed with celebrities including Richard Branson, Ricky Martin and Stephen Hawking.
The large figure allegedly defrauded, and the high-profile status of some clients meant Chang Rajii has garnered a lot of attention in Chile where a docudrama was produced about his life.
But when questions about his investments and some of his other claims began to surface in the spring of 2016, the Chilean investor moved to Malta.
“Warned of what he could face, he chose a jurisdiction that does not have an extradition treaty with Chile, so he went to Malta,” Carlos Gajardo who investigated Chang, told television station CHV Noticias.
Chilean news outlets repeatedly describe Chang Rajii as living a life of luxury in Malta while he was wanted in his home country.
He applied for a Maltese passport under the Individual Investor Programme but failed after the acquisitions in Chile became known.
In a Times of Malta interview the same year, Chang said he had been subjected to a trial by media and that his company had only been forced into default because Chilean prosecutors seized his assets on unproven charges.
Chang Rajii’s mother, who cofounded the company, however, has been charged and convicted of fraud.
Chile asked Malta to extradite Chang Rajii in 2016 but Malta refused the request two years later after a court of criminal appeal ruling.
But now he is in trouble with the law in Malta, after an alleged victim saw a notification on his phone about a €500 transfer to a hotel – a payment that he had neither made nor authorised.
Hotel employees pointed the finger at Chang Rajii and he was recently charged over a series of fraud charges.
Chang Rajii was also charged with aggravated theft, being in possession of items related to fraud and for using a counterfeit “non-corporeal non-cash payment instrument” ‒ the cloned copy of the victim’s credit card.
The defence said it would not be requesting bail at this state, given that the accused has no fixed address and no money.
There is now hope that if Chang Rajii is found guilty in Malta, he can be deported back to Chile and face his alleged victims there, Gomez told Times of Malta.
“Some of the victims are in a very good economic situation, but others come from more humble social classes,” Gomez said.
Van Klaveren Stork said since he has been accused of crimes committed in Malta, Chang Rajii could be deported back to Chile if found guilty.
“As he would have committed a crime in Malta, there is the possibility of deportation, and deportation would be a much faster and effective procedure than going through an extradition process,” he said.
The Maltese fraud case made headlines across Chile.
Flavia Cordella, a journalist who was reporting for TVN Chile in Malta this week, said Chang’s alleged victims are passionate about getting their money back.