The Labour Party has accused the Nationalist Party of having ‘lied’ when it said that it had repaid a €250,000 loan given to it by developer Zaren Vassallo.

In a statement, the PL said Opposition leader Simon Busuttil did not provide any evidence when challenged to prove that the ‘donation’ by Mr Vassallo was not directly linked to the transfer of a government property in Qormi (the Lowenbrau site) to Mr Vassallo’s company.

Then the PN told some journalists that Mr Vassallo was paid back his money in August. The journalists were shown a letter but were not handed a copy.

When asked how PN executive president Ann Fenech had, just six days ago, told l-orizzont that talks with Mr Vassallo were still underway, the PN had replied that Dr Fenech was not speaking about this ‘grant’ but other debts.

But, the PL said, this was a lie because l-orizzont in its questions to Dr Fenech six days ago had asked specifically about the grant of €250,000 given by Mr Vassallo a month after the Qormi property deal.

The property was transferred for €700,000 when it as worth €8m the Pl said. The Auditor General recently commented than then lands minister Jason Azzopardi should assume responsibility for this case.

PN REPLIES

In a reaction, the Nationalist Party said the PL statement was a lie from beginning to end, and Labour knew it.

It urged the PL to stop sowing division and hatred and instead act like a party in government.