PN’s house of cards collapsing

● Delia stands his ground, says client’s London tenants responsible for any illegalities

The Nationalist Party’s fragile house of cards continued to collapse in rather spectacular fashion yesterday with one of the party’s two leadership frontrunners, Adrian Delia, seeking to fend off accusations that he had been involved in the laundering of money from a prostitution racket in Soho, London.

In the meantime, the party’s Administrative Council is to hold an urgent meeting tomorrow to discuss the situation and see what kind of ac- tion can be taken in accordance with the party’s statute.

At a press conference convened yesterday afternoon, Delia acknowledged that he represented a Maltese client who was indeed the landlord of at least one property used for illicit practices, but insisted that his client/landlord was not to be held responsible for the actions of his tenants.

He also confirmed that the tenants

have faced the brunt of the law in the UK for having violated a clause in the rental contract precluding them from using the property for “illicit practices”. Within that ambit, Delia said yesterday, he, in his capacity as his client’s lawyer, had appointed legal consul in the UK to follow that legal process and to safeguard his client’s interests and the observation of the law.

The accusations, which have quickly taken on the dimensions of a fully-fledged PN scandal, have been levelled by journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Speaking yesterday, Delia insisted that Caruana Galizia “knows full well that what is being alleged in my respect amounts to no more than the provision of legal services to a client rendered over 20 years ago”.

He observed that he was bound by professional secrecy and as such he could not even publish documents which “clearly show that I did nothing illicit, not even in order to defend myself”.

But he added that, “Nevertheless, I can say that I never benefitted from the rental of properties in England as alleged by Caruana Galizia. I only provided legal services as every lawyer does in accordance with the law.”

Delia also insisted that the funds used to purchase the property came from Bank of Valletta and since the property was insured, the insurer had also carried out its own due diligence to ensure the property was not intended for illegal activities.”

Delia reiterated, “Someone who is not interested in this new way of politics I am offering is trying to tarnish my reputation using this blogger. This has been the dirtiest, most aggressive campaign I have ever seen.

“This is yet another attempt by Caruana Galizia to impinge another electoral process, as she already did in the past and where the PN was so staggeringly defeated. The choice is clear. The people need to choose between a new way or having the campaign led by a blogger.”

Delia said he had invited Caruana Galizia to meet him and thrash out the issue but that she did not get back to him with a reply. He also thanked Frank Portelli, another PN leadership candidate for having “the human decency” to speak on this matter. “No one in the PN administration even blinked an eye in the light all of these attacks.”

Delia said he will be taking legal action on the latest reports by Caruana Galizia so that the truth comes out. He has already filed two libel suits against her.

In the meantime, the party’s Administrative Council is to hold an urgent meeting tomorrow evening to discuss what steps, if any, will be taken with regard to the controversy surrounding Delia.

In a statement, the party said that earlier yesterday, the president of the party’s Administrative Council received a request to consider the controversy surrounding Delia, and to see what steps should be taken by the party in such situations.

The party elaborated, “The request was made by PN local councillor Charlot Cassar, where he states that the PN councillors and party members have a right to know the facts about the four candidates before taking a decision on who should lead the party.” Cassar said he believes that every candidate facing any allegations “has the right to defend himself while also having an obligation to provide an account of his actions to the people whose trust he is trying to earn.”

Contacted yesterday, Cassar explained that the request was not about Delia specifically, although he is the centre of attention at the moment, but that the party should not simply allow such situations, with candidates defending themselves without help from anyone, and that the party needs to determine how it should intervene in such situations.