Prime Minister Joseph Muscat should stop the remaining payments over the Café Premier deal if, by his own admission, it was a mistake, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil insisted yesterday.
Reiterating his call on Dr Muscat to shoulder political responsibility for his “direct involvement in the scandal”, Dr Busuttil said what happened was “obscene” and there was also “a whiff of corruption”.
With €3 million having been paid so far out of the agreed €4.2 million, the least the government could do was to stop payments, Dr Busuttil told party faithful during an extraordinary general conference called to launch the party’s local council election campaign.
“I do not believe this was a mistake because it was premeditated, with meetings before and after the election,” he said.
Dr Busuttil said Dr Muscat’s word had “no value”, not only because of his involvement in the deal but also because he had pledged to resign if the government failed to build the power station within the first two years.
Two years down the line, not only had the power station not been built but construction had not even started, he pointed out. The failed project and the failure to keep his word had even more significance after Dr Muscat was “caught lying” to cover up the mess.
“The issue is serious because Dr Muscat had authorised payment of €4.2 million to a bankrupt company to repossess a property that actually belonged to the government and with a lease that was not being paid,” he said.
The agreed sum also covered the company’s water and electricity bills, capital gains, VAT, €2 million owed to the banks and even a pending commercial bill. To add insult to injury, Dr Busuttil added, there was also a €210,000 commission.
“Clearly, somebody had made money from all this. I do not know whether it was the Labour Party or somebody else close to Labour but things pointed in this direction,” he said.
The Prime Minister was “lying” when he said he was not involved.
The Auditor General’s report showed his direct involvement, even in the payment of the commission.
Dr Busuttil noted Dr Muscat had said that continuing the court case to recover the property would have taken a long time but he had no such qualms when a court case over the two parliamentary seats the PN had been robbed of took so long.
He said the money could have been used to address the overcrowding problems at Mater Dei Hospital or to upgrade the roads in Gozo.
Dr Muscat could fool some people some of the time but he could not fool all the people all the time, Dr Busuttil said, quoting former US president Abraham Lincoln.
He said the Nationalist Party was renewing itself and was already making a difference from the Opposition benches.
It had opened its doors wide for everyone and had welcomed people to its fold and this included gay and transgender individuals. The party, Dr Busuttil said, was built on political honesty and values. The recent Swiss leaks case had revealed how two former PN ministers Michael Falzon and Ninu Zammit had not acted according to what was expected of them, so they were suspended immediately.
Rallying support for the team of local council candidates being fielded by the PN, Dr Busuttil encouraged people to believe in the party’s project. He likened the party’s uphill challenge to regain people’s trust to a marathon, saying the team was resolved to achieve its aims.
“We are running a marathon and we will make it. We must bring the party back on its feet and make it a source of honesty and determination,” Dr Busuttil said to rousing applause.