The Labour Party has slammed the Opposition for appealing for a speedy out-of-court agreement on the National Bank saga, saying it had failed to do so in 25 years of government.
“The government is carefully analysing the situation and is committed to taking everyone’s interest into consideration,” the Labour Party said in a statement.
It accused the Opposition of “political hypocrisy,” saying it was ironic the Nationalist Party admitted it had been incapable of finding a solution to the saga.
The reaction was brought about by a statement in which the PN welcomed a recent court judgment in favour of the former shareholders. In the light of this decision, the matter should be closed once and for all, it said.
Over the past years, it had tried to find an out-of-court settlement to resolve the long-standing case in a just manner. A number of offers had been made, including one in the last legislature, which had proposed a compensation of around €25 million.
“Regrettably no agreement on an out-of-court settlement was reached,” the PN said. It said it was ironic this landmark decision was delivered with Labour in government, given this was an injustice created by the government of former prime minister Dom Mintoff.
The saga started in November 1973 when Mr Mintoff took over the bank. A few months later, Bank of Valletta was set up and took over the business of the National Bank of Malta.
During the process, shareholders were not given any form of compensation, triggering a drawn-out legal battle.
Through an appeal decision handed down by the Constitutional Court, shareholders can start the process of liquidating the damages they suffered as a result of their breach of human rights.
Last week, three judges sitting in a Constitutional Court confirmed two judgments handed down earlier this year by Mr Justice Joseph Micallef.
These concerned two groups of shareholders: 33 who had not signed their shares away to government and 49 who had signed to release their shares.
The judge had ruled that the shareholders’ fundamental human rights had been breached when they were made to surrender their stake without compensation.