For only the second time in almost four decades, the Nationalist Party executive will today decide whether to expel a party member.
In the 1970s the PN expelled Alfred Baldacchino, a Nationalist MP who crossed the floor to join the Labour Party then in government.
But if Dr Baldacchino’s expulsion was prompted by his drastic action, today’s case concerning Malta’s former EU envoy Richard Cachia Caruana is different.
Mr Cachia Caruana stands accused by Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando of colluding with Labour ministers between 1996 and 1998, fomenting unrest in the PN and conspiring with officials of foreign governments behind Parliament’s back.
They are serious accusations and the gravity of the situation the PN finds itself in today is highlighted by the rarity of such cases in the party’s history.
Another case of expulsion was Herbert Ganado’s in the 1950s. The lawyer had eventually created his own Democratic Nationalist Party but also challenged the PN’s decision in court, and won.
Francis Zammit Dimech, a PN parliamentary veteran, believes expelling somebody from the party is “the most extreme form of discipline”.
He insisted that at no stage during the disciplinary action that was considered against rebel MPs Dr Pullicino Orlando, Jesmond Mugliett and Franco Debono was expulsion ever considered. The three MPs were last week banned by the executive from contesting the election with the PN.
“In view of the gravity of what is being requested – Mr Cachia Caruana’s expulsion – the fundamental rules of justice have to be observed and the burden of proof rests with the person making the accusations,” Dr Zammit Dimech said.
The proof is supposed to come in the form of testimony by five witnesses identified by Dr Pullicino Orlando. But in a tale of twists and turns, PN executive president Marthese Portelli has insisted the MP did not substantiate his accusations.
Mr Cachia Caruana had to know what he was being charged with to be able to defend himself, Dr Zammit Dimech added. “The accusations have to be clear and specific, not vague, unless we subscribe to some mediaeval or kangaroo court.”
The case will be heard today in front of an executive made up of some 80 members.
The accusations
• Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando has asked his party’s executive committee to expel Malta’s former EU envoy Richard Cachia Caruana.
The backbencher has levelled three broad accusations, insisting he had irrefutable evidence that would lead the party to acquiesce to his request. Mr Cachia Caruana is accused of colluding with Labour government officials between 1996 and 1998 in a bid to “feather his nest”.
Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando has indicated Labour MPs Karmenu Vella and Joe Mizzi – both ministers in the short-lived Labour administration – as the people who could prove the allegation. Mr Cachia Caruana is also accused of conspiring with officials of foreign governments behind Parliament’s back.
Dr Pullicino Orlando has not identified witnesses to substantiate this allegation.
Presumably the accusation deals with the same issues raised in Parliament by the Labour Party during the debate that led to Mr Cachia Caruana’s resignation last month.
The third accusation is that Mr Cachia Caruana fomented unrest in the Nationalist Party. Dr Pullicino Orlando said EU Health Commissioner John Dalli, Police Commissioner John Rizzo and the Prime Minister’s communications coordinator Gordon Pisani would substantiate this allegation.
The accuser: Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando
• Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando was first elected a Nationalist MP in 1996 after having served the party as a local councillor in his Żebbuġ hometown.
A dentist, he was elected on the PN ticket from the Żebbuġ district in every election after that.
In 2008, Dr Pullicino Orlando, 49, was embroiled in a scandal involving land he owns at Mistra and which he had leased to third parties for the creation of an open-air disco.
During the electoral campaign, the Labour Party accused him of corruption and in a dramatic twist of events the MP rode on a massive sympathy vote to get elected from two districts.
In this legislature he threatened to vote against the party line over the underground museum next to St John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta. The project was eventually withdrawn.
But in his most successful campaign yet, Dr Pullicino Orlando was the mastermind behind the introduction of divorce. He tabled a private member’s Bill and went on to form a movement that pushed for a divorce referendum last year.
The vote delivered an overwhelming yes.
The accused: Richard Cachia Caruana
• When Malta officially joined the EU in 2004 Richard Cachia Caruana started serving as the country’s first Brussels permanent representative.
Eight years later, Mr Cachia Caruana, 57, unceremoniously lost the job after PN backbencher Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando last month backed an Opposition motion calling forhis resignation.
The PN’s master strategist, Mr Cachia Caruana joined the PN aged 18, driven by the injustices he saw committed by the Mintoff government.
In 1981, then PN general secretary Louis Galea asked him to fly back from England to help the PN’s campaign. In England, he had helped set up a PN office together with Michael Frendo, who is now Speaker.
It was during the turbulent 1980s that Mr Cachia Caruana, together with Austin Gatt, oversaw the flourishing of Eddie Fenech Adami’s political stature.
After the 1987 election, with the PN in government, Mr Cachia Caruana became Dr Fenech Adami’s right-hand man.
Often described by his foes as the “unelected prime minister” because of his overbearing personality, Mr Cachia Caruana’s life was scarred in 1994 when somebody tried to kill him.