Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando said he purposely delayed going to his party’s headquarters when summoned on the eve of the 2008 general election because he feared he would be used as a scapegoat in the eventuality of an electoral defeat.
The ‘leak’ of certain parts of what should have been an internal meeting was very well organised
In a statement yesterday, Dr Pullicino Orlando also warned people dealing with certain high-ranking Nationalist Party officials and the Office of the Prime Minister that their private conversations could end up divulged publicly “and possibly twisted”.
“It is also obvious that the ‘leak’ of selected parts of what should have been an internal meeting of the executive committee was very well organised. It is no wonder that many MPs are choosing not to attend our parliamentary group and executive committee meetings. This is indeed a shameful state of affairs,” he said.
He was reacting to the testimony released by Gordon Pisani, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi’s spokesman, during Tuesday’s executive meeting highlighting conversations he had had with Dr Pullicino Orlando over a contract to operate a discotheque in his field in Mistra.
Dr Pullicino Orlando said this was “obviously a stage-managed affair” which had been “instigated by (Transport Minister) Austin Gatt” and that it was unrelated to the matter under discussion.
He pointed out that he had made reference to the Mistra contract in an article written in The Times a week before the conversations and no one had asked him for details on this case.
Reacting, Mr Pisani said he could not understand how Dr Pullicino Orlando was complaining about his testimony when it was he who summoned him as a witness against former EU envoy Richard Cachia Caruana.
Mr Pisani said the conversations he released were relevant because they showed the PN did not know the whole truth about his Mistra land.
The PN did not know that Dr Pullicino Orlando had a contract signed covering development at Mistra and rental amounts. Whenever he was asked, Dr Pullicino Orlando never said he had this contract, which the PN only learned about on March 6; the last day of the electoral campaign.
He insisted he had not called Dr Pullicino Orlando to the PN headquarters on Mr Cachia Caruana’s instructions and that it was also untrue he had confirmed that Mrs Caruana Galizia had been asked to help in the Mistra campaign, as Dr Pullicino Orlando alleged.
He said, according to information he had on February 29, 2008, Dr Pullicino Orlando was satisfied that Mrs Caruana Galizia wrote an article to be published in his name.
Mr Pisani said he explained to the executive that Dr Pullicino Orlando was comfortable meeting Mrs Caruana Galizia, so much so that he gave her a business card as head of the Council of Europe delegation and told her that he was using up the last few cards he had left because he would soon have new ones as minister.
Conversations between Gordon Pisani and Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando on March 6, 2008
The following conversation took place, according to Mr Pisani, after former Labour leader Alfred Sant made public the contract on the lease of land in Mistra.
Gordon Pisani: You have a contract for the lease of land in Mistra.
Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando: Why?
GP: Alfred Sant showed the contract you have on Mistra on television. Do you have a contract?
JPO: I’m not feeling well.
GP: Come now to the PN headquarters and get a copy of this contract and give it to (former general secretary) Joe Saliba. This is something new.
JPO: I’m not feeling well. I’m not well.
GP: I don’t care. Look what you got the party into. Come now.
JPO: I’m not in a state to come.
GP: I’m sending you a messenger to pick you up from home.
JPO: I’m not in a state to come.
GP: Is your contract worth hundreds, thousands?
JPO: Isn’t it better if you don’t know?
GP: Tens of thousands?
JPO: Huge amounts.
GP: Will it embarrass the party?
JPO: I’m not well.
GP: Jeffrey, I’m sending you a driver to get you to the PN headquarters and get a copy of the contract. You got us into a problem. The driver is coming now.
JPO: OK
The driver, according to Mr Pisani, went to Dr Pullicino Orlando’s house but he did not let him in so Mr Pisani called him incessantly until the MP finally answered the phone.
GP: Jeffrey, the driver came and you did not open the door.
JPO: I’ll see if I can get a lift with somebody.
GP: The party is crumbling. Come now!
Mr Pisani told the PN executive that when Dr Pullicino Orlando eventually arrived about 30 minutes later, he was accompanied by his lawyer Alex Perici Calascione. He said he had looked for the contract but could not find a copy. He insisted he had the right to make a contract and this did not amount to corruption. He said he had entered into the contract to get a good income. Dr Pullicino Orlando then left with his lawyer and turned up some 15 minutes later with a copy of the contract, Mr Pisani said. He was told to release a statement and go straight to the Police Commissioner.