David Agius did not cross the line - Gonzi

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday said he saw "nothing wrong" in PN whip David Agius's phone call to a Gozo Channel Ltd official to check why one of his constituents was not being promoted to captain.

"In politics you are there to be of service to your constituents... this is something that happens in all countries," Dr Gonzi told The Times yesterday.

The Prime Minister added, however, that there was an "ethical line" that should not be crossed in such cases.

"From what I know about this case... and I don't know much... it doesn't seem like this line was crossed. I think someone just made a phone call."

The code of ethics for parliamentarians says that MPs are duty bound to relay complaints of their constituents and make representations in their name to government authorities but not to use "any improper influence, threats or undue pressure".

Ship master Mario Grech, who was suspended after highlighting security flaws on the Gozo Channel ferries, has accused Mr Agius of putting "strong political pressure" on him to promote a chief officer to captain, even though it was clear from an interview that the officer was not competent enough to be in the post.

Mr Agius has denied exerting any political pressure, saying he only made one phone call of "verification".

He said the chief officer was one of his constituents from Attard, who claimed he was not offered the job because someone did not like him.

"I just made a phone call to get the (shipmaster's) side of the story, as I always do in such circumstances. I can't just rely on what the constituent tells me. The captain told me a report was drawn up and that they acted according to the report - so it ended there."

He added, however, that his constituent was recently promoted to captain. "It happened naturally," Mr Agius said, stressing that he only ever made one phone call.

Capt. Grech made the allegation in an affidavit last week as part of evidence in a civil lawsuit he has instituted against his suspension from the ferry company.

The suspension came last September, one day after he filed a judicial protest listing a number of flaws in the ferry service such as lack of safety drills, shortage of life-saving equipment and contamination of the ships' water tanks with potentially-deadly legionella bacteria.