Education Minister Evarist Bartolo must walk the talk and resign in the wake of his handling of corruption allegations concerning direct orders issued by the Foundation for Tomorrow Schools, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said this morning.
“At the height of the Panama Papers scandal Mr Bartolo had backed calls for Konrad Mizzi to resign for not declaring a secret company. He had even quoted a saying by the Romans that there was the law of the Gods and the law of the animals. So by his own standards the Education Minister must now do the same,” Dr Busuttil said this morning during a political activity at the PN club in Żabbar.
Mr Bartolo has been accused of doing nothing about allegations despite knowing about them since last April, with former FTS CEO Philip Rizzo alleging the minister sought to dissuade him from reporting the case to the police.
The Education Minister has denied the claims, saying that he when he learnt about the case in August he took immediate action.
He again denied the allegations in a statement this evening.
READ: Check your Hotmail, Rizzo tells Bartolo
In his address, the PN leader said that last week was another “scandal-ridden” one for the Labour administration.
Touching on the allegations that a canvasser of Mr Bartolo was requesting bribes from private firms in order to secure contracts in connection with the building of new schools, Dr Busuttil said that the Education Minister had mishandled the case.
He noted that if Mr Bartolo would not shoulder political responsibility, it would be up to the Prime Minister to take such decision.
“However, Mr Bartolo could well argue that he would only do such thing, if the same would apply to the likes of Minister Konrad Mizzi and the Prime Minister’s top aide Keith Schembri,” Dr Busuttil said.
“Unfortunately, under the Labour government standards have descended to rock bottom and the law of the jungle is prevailing,” he added.
The PN leader also hit out against Mr Bartolo, who is also Employment Minister, over the GWU-administered scheme whereby workers previously on the unemployment register are being paid the minimum wage.
This “obscene” scheme was institutionalising precarious employment while leaving a yearly profit of about €1 million in the union’s coffers, the PN leader said.
Dr Busuttil pledged that a PN government would fight corruption and restore a level playing field for all.
“While I am doing my utmost to make this change, I urge the people to do their share for us to succeed,” he said.
In his address, the PN leader also referred to the political violence which had led to the death of Raymond Caruana 30 years ago, on December 5, 1987 in Gudja.
“We are commemorating them not to revive tensions, but to ensure that the country learnt its lesson,” he said.
At the start of his speech Dr Busuttil saluted Edwin Vassallo and Peter Micallef, who returned to Parliament following the court’s decision to award the PN two additional seats, in the wake of a vote-counting error.