Small-minded people with a warped mentality have hurled considerable invective at Mario de Marco after it transpired that his law firm had provided professional services to the db Group in respect of the ITS project.

To put the matter in its proper perspective, before crying foul, level-headed people should realise that, in a contract, the lawyer does not negotiate but simply offers advice to his client, looking after his interests. So, up to the point when the Nationalist Party took a stand in regard to the ITS deal, de Marco’s law firm was not acting in conflict with the party’s interests. Once the party took a position, de Marco correctly gave up the brief with the db Group.

It is not surprising that Silvio Debono had entrusted de Marco’s firm to look after his interests as it is well known that Debono had been an ardent supporter of the PN in years gone by and, logically, he would not have entrusted the brief to a Labour-leaning law firm, considering that he was entering into a contract with Labour in government.

It appears, therefore, that those who have wrongfully pilloried de Marco must have had an ulterior motive, which does not require rocket science to deduce. Simply put, they did so in an attempt to sow division within the ranks of the party with a view to stall the unstoppable march of the party to evict the current Labour government, reputed to be the most corrupt ever in Malta.