Judge Bonello to lead PN party financing commission
Opposition leader admits to meeting Silvio Debono of db Group
The Nationalist Party will be launching a commission aimed at analysing and presenting proposals on both political party and politician financing issues, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil announced yesterday.
The Commission, which will be led by retired judge Giovanni Bonello, follows The Malta Independent’s suggestion in yesterday’s leader in which the PN was urged to appoint an independent inquiry to establish the facts related to the ITS site case.
The inquiry will also be asked to draw up recommendations which the party will consider for inclusion in its electoral manifesto. “I did not create this mess and I want to clean it up,” Dr Busuttil said.
The PN leader made the announcement after it was revealed that db Group, which is behind the construction of the ITS site in St Julian’s, requested that the PN returns the donations it was given by the company after the Opposition leader called on the Auditor General to investigate the contract of the transfer of land.
The db Group has also claimed that the PN used the said donations to pay the salaries of PN Secretary General Rosette Thake and CEO Brian St John.
The political party categorically denies these statements, with Dr Busuttil maintaining that while the company’s donations did in fact help the party and its media house, Media.link, there are invoices which indicate that the relationship between the two was of a purely commercial nature since the invoices are inclusive of VAT.
He also insists that that the salaries of Secretary General Rosette Thake and CEO Brian St John were paid by Media.link and the PN.
Dr Busuttil told the press that db Group’s donations did not affect the PN’s political judgement.
“I did not keep my silence and I am being attacked, a political party and leader are being blackmailed to either stay quiet or return the donations,” he said.
The PN leader was asked which other big business owners have donated to the party, to which he replied that “there are a number of individuals, families, professionals, and business owners who donate to the PN.”
Dr Busuttil also revealed that the Nationalist Party had received a total of €1 million in donations during 2016, all of which had been declared to the Electoral Commission, and that more than €900,000 of them were small donations of less than €50.
This, he said, was not only a reflection of the PN’s commitment to transparency but is also in stark contrast to the ruling party, which has yet to provide its list of party donations to the Electoral Commission.
When asked by The Malta Independent whether he would set up an internal inquiry to evaluate if Dr de Marco, who was the lawyer of db Group, acted in good faith, Dr Busuttil said that inquiries of such sort will be included in the commission’s remit.
Dr Busuttil also faced questions from The Malta Independent as to whether or not he was a proactive or reactive politician given that he took concrete action only when both Dr de Marco’s and Toni Bezzina’s affairs were revealed to the public. “I am absolutely proactive, and this proposal shows that I mean business when I say I want to change the system,” he replied.
Silvio Debono & db Group
At the same press conference, Dr Busuttil did admit that he had met Silvio Debono, the owner of db Group, a “number of times” after he became leader.
The most recent meeting, which occurred a couple of weeks ago, involved a presentation from the company of the proposed development of the ITS site in St Julian’s.
Dr Busuttil told the press that the meeting primarily concerned the Opposition’s questions surrounding the value of the ITS site, which is currently subject to controversy concerning the price of sale of the transfer of land of the former government-owned site.
The meeting, he claims, occurred prior to the PN’s decision to call on the Auditor General to investigate the terms of the ITS government contract.
He went on to say that the government has been unable to provide sufficient answers after the Opposition ascertained that the transfer of land, which occurred without parliamentary approval, was valued at €15 million in the contract, contrary to the government’s claims that it was valued at €60 million.
“I want to make it clear that I am not waging some war against Silvio Debono or businesses. I am looking to clean up the political system,” he said.
The Malta Independent asked Dr Busuttil regarding the discrepancies between the price of sale quoted by Deloitte which is €60 million and the €15 million figure the PN insists on, and whether or not he felt that Deloitte was wrong and another corrupt company in the ever-growing controversy.
“I have no doubts on Deloitte, but even if they say it is €60 million, how much is the db Group actually going to pay? Can someone tell me where the difference between the €15 million and €60 million is going?”
Asked why he waited 24 hours to reply after the db Group claimed it had paid the salaries of PN officials, Dr Busuttil said that it had taken a year for Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to answer questions on the Panama Papers scandal.