Dr Simon BusuttilThe new armed forces commander, who is set to be named in the coming days, will not enjoy the confidence of the Opposition, PN leader Simon Busuttil declared yesterday.
On Friday, Brigadier Martin Xuereb announced his decision to retire from the army after a 26-year career, on the same day that four officers promoted from majors to lieutenant colonels just a fortnight earlier were given the second highest rank in the army.
Addressing a political activity at the PN club in Mosta, Dr Busuttil said Brigadier Xuereb was the best ever qualified person to occupy such a post but had been “hounded” to resign.
He added that his departure followed that of his second-in-command, Colonel David Attard, who last July resigned some weeks after being transferred to the Safi detention centre.
Dr Busuttil echoed the remarks made last Friday by PN deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami and MP Jason Azzopardi who said that the Labour Party has accomplished its mission for the political takeover of the army.
“With such manoeuvres, do not expect the Opposition to have confidence in the new army commander,” he warned.
These incidents were eroding the people’s trust in the army, he added.
Dr Busuttil’s declaration follows his call for Police Commissioner Peter Paul Zammit to step down over his decision not to charge former EU commissioner John Dalli following bribery allegations in connection with EU tobacco legislation.
The PN leader yesterday accused Mr Zammit of manipulating the course of justice. He said that, even though former police commissioner John Rizzo last week testified in court that there was enough evidence to arraign Mr Dalli, his successor immediately decided that there was no case against him.
While Mr Rizzo had testified that his decision was backed by the Attorney General, his successor said he acted on the AG’s advice, Dr Busuttil said.
However, Mr Zammit has since clarified that the AG was consistent throughout and insisted that the ultimate responsibility for the decision rested with the police commissioner as the AG “does not tell you what to do”.
Dr Busuttil yesterday accused him of not telling the truth as he had changed his version. At one point in his speech he hit out at Prime Minister Joseph Muscat saying that, rather than making Malta the best in Europe, in just six months he had managed to do the opposite.
He also referred to a story published by The Sunday Times of Malta which said that the wife of Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi, who was recently appointed by Malta Enterprise as Malta’s envoy for Asia, will receive around €100,000 a year.
Dr Busuttil asked whether this is the kind of meritocracy or transparency which the people had voted for in the general election.
“While we got a six cent reduction in fuel, the Mizzi couple got a weekly increase of €2,000,” he said.
Recent incidents smacked of abuse of power and any government in a democratic country would have to shoulder responsibility for this.
When the House of Representatives reconvenes today, the Opposition would be seeking answers.
Dr Busuttil said the preliminary agreement through which the Chinese Government will buy a 35 per cent stake in Enemalta had to be made public.
The Opposition would also be seeking explanations on the ministerial declarations of assets, saying that some Cabinet members had been exposed not making truthful ones. The Opposition would be coming up with its own ideas “on how a decent government and its ministers should act in a European democracy”.
In the meantime the PN had started formulating its policy through a number of seminars with the participation of civil society representatives, said Dr Busuttil.
In a statement, the Labour Party said that the PN was continuing to be negative, to the point that it was even criticising the fuel price cuts and trying to politicise education in an attempt to show the Government in a bad light.
It added that the PN did not come up with a single proposal for tourism, despite holding a policy forum the day before.