Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis would not say today whether he backed Keith Schembri in light of recent kickbacks allegations, insisting that it was the fact that he enjoyed the prime minister's trust that mattered.

Mr Schembri, he said, was not a political person but he still testified whenever asked to appear.

Dr Zammit Lewis was commenting about allegations by Opposition leader Simon Busuttil that the Prime Minister's chief of staff received kickbacks from the controversial cash-for-passports scheme. Dr Busuttil said in a press conference yesterday that he had documents to support his claims.

“It is not a question of whether we stand by him or not, there are processes and he is a person who enjoys the Prime Minister’s trust. Mr Schembri is someone who has worked tirelessly for the Labour Party as well as this government,” Dr Zammit Lewis said.

On whether Mr Schembri should step aside, at least until allegations were investigated, Dr Zammit Lewis said that no real evidence against Mr Schembri had yet been supplied.

He insisted that country's institutions had full autonomy to investigate any claims being made and should be trusted to do so without any interference from anyone, including the Prime Minister.

What are we expecting, the Prime Minister to order people’s arrest? That is not the way things work in a democratic country

“Simon Busuttil has called for the arrest of Mr Schembri, but what are we expecting, the Prime Minister to order people’s arrest? That is not the way things work in a democratic country,” the minister said.

The tourism minister was addressing a press conference with parliamentary secretary Deborah Schembri, to question Dr Busuttil’s credibility.

The pair said that while Dr Busuttil was harping on about the need for clean politics, he remained a shareholder of a company that received government contracts under the Pn administration. While he was an MEP, he said, Dr Busuttil was also director of the company GS Limited.

During the news conference, Dr Zammit Lewis questioned the Opposition leader's business links.

He said that Dr Busuttil had entrusted Bailey Audit Services to audit accounts of the companies GS Limited as well as GS Services Limited and these had not signed off on the accounts for the years 2009 and 2015.

“How can we expect Dr Busuttil to lead a country when he clearly cannot even manage his own companies? The Opposition leader has become synonymous with nothing but hypocrisy,” the minister added. 

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