Chris Fearne resigns, asks for his nomination for EU post to be withdrawn

• Robert Abela asks Fearne to reconsider, Fearne refuses

Deputy Prime Minister, Chris Fearne, submitted his resignation as Deputy Prime Minister and Government Minister, effective immediately on Friday afternoon.

He has also requested that his nomination for the position of European Commissioner be withdrawn.

He announced this in a letter to the Prime Minister, which he posted on Facebook on Friday afternoon. The Prime Minister responded urging Fearne to reconsider his decision.

In a letter sent to Fearne, Abela said that he had full faith in him.

“For the reasons I already expressed publicly, where I emphasised your integrity and ability, I ask you to reconsider your decision as expressed”, Abela wrote.

Fearne later wrote back to the Prime Minister and said that while it had been the greatest honour of his life to serve as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister, he would not be changing his mind.

Fearne, who occupied the Minister of European Funds, Equality, Reforms and Social Dialogue, said that he is innocent, but that he understands that resigning is the right thing to do.

Fearne had been Minister of Health for eight years before he was moved to his current post in a Cabinet reshuffle, which had Prime Minister Abela nominate him as Malta's next European Commissioner.

He has been accused of fraud and misappropriation after the conclusion of the magisterial inquiry into the Vitals deal, which saw the Government transfer three hospitals to the private sector. The deal has since been rescinded after a court had ruled it as having been "fraudulent".

He was the only sitting Minister to be charged in the scandal, which has also seen former Prime Minister, Joseph Muscat, his then Chief of Staff, Keith Schembri, and ex-Minister, Konrad Mizzi, all be charged with money laundering.

In a letter to the Prime Minister dated on Friday, Fearne said that he would have preferred if he had the magisterial inquiry itself in hand before acting, but because it seems like it will take some time, “it is not possible for me to keep waiting”.

“The country, and our democratic and European institutions, deserves nothing less”, he wrote.

Fearne said that despite not knowing exactly what he is being accused of, he knows what he did and didn’t do as Minister, and nobody can be more certain than he is that the courts will find nothing more than his full innocence.

He wrote that a substantial part of the truth has already been revealed by another national institution – the National Audit Office – which, he said, had exonerated him fully and noted that his Ministry had been sidelined completely of any significant involvement in the concession.

“These are the facts about me, black on white. I fulfilled my duty with integrity and correctness always and at all times, and I never broke the law”, he wrote.

He said that he had already proven that he is not tied to the seat of power, and noted that he had already informed the Labour Party Parliamentary Group that he was ready to resign if he was charged. “The Parliamentary Group gave me full support. You publicly showed that you believe in my integrity and abilities. I appreciate this faith a lot”, he told the Prime Minister.

Fearne wrote that his parents had, from childhood, taught him to do the right thing in all circumstances. “This is what I have always done, and that’s what I will always do”, he wrote. He said that the institutions he had given his life to demand this as well.

“In the present circumstances – and because I have so much respect for the institutions – I cannot continue to honour these sacrosanct as I have always done”, he wrote. “My duty to politics is only to do good for the country, its institutions and its people”, he continued.

“That’s why, however unjust the charges against me are and however inexistent the proof is, I must put Malta, the constitution, and Maltese and Gozitans before everything else”, he added.

“I want to be clear, I am taking this step not because I have any doubts on my innocence, but because this is the right thing to be done”, he wrote.

He said that it was the greatest honour of his life to service Malta and thanked the Prime Minister for this opportunity.

“Therefore, I am handing you my resignation with immediate effect from the post of Deputy Prime Minister and Government Minister. I am also requesting, because I have the same respect to the European institutions, that my nomination as Malta’s European Commissioner be withdrawn”, he wrote.

“The only thing that I humbly hope for is that the judicial process is led in an expedited manner so that I can clean my name as quickly as possible, and so I can be in a position to serve my country if I am called upon again”, he concluded.