Planning Parliamentary Secretary Michael Falzon’s days in government were numbered, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said yesterday.
Speaking on Radio 101, Dr Busuttil said he could not understand how Dr Falzon had not yet tendered his resignation after being involved in a number of scandals.
The Sunday Times of Malta reported yesterday Dr Falzon was denying any conflict of interest in negotiations with Bank of Valletta in his capacity as a government official while he was also discussing his personal early retirement package with the bank.
Dr Falzon, who is responsible for the Land Department, was involved in discussions leading to the extension of the lease of the bank chairman’s office at the House of Four Winds in Valletta.
Dr Falzon also got a €260,000 early retirement payout from the bank.
For Dr Busuttil this was a clear conflict of interest and could not stand. “Dr Falzon’s days are numbered. This sort of behaviour cannot be allowed to go on without repercussions. There must be political responsibility,” he said, adding this was not the first scandal Dr Falzon had been involved in.
The PN leader said it was important to bear in mind that Dr Falzon had already been in the headlines a few weeks ago when it transpired he had been involved in an expropriation deal involving a building in Old Mint Street, Valletta.
Dr Falzon’s staff, he continued, had accompanied businessman Mark Gaffarena to the Land Department while filling paperwork for the controversial expropriation. Dr Falzon had even gone abroad with Mr Gaffarena in the months prior to the expropriation.
Earlier, Dr Busuttil hit out at the government for not opening the doors of opportunity to all but only those close to it.
He said the government had been elected on the promise of making Malta Tagħna Lkoll (Malta for all) a reality. However, it was showing it was anything but.
Parents wondered what opportunities were open for their children while, at the same time, a minister’s wife was paid a whopping €13,000-a-month for a post she was not fit to fill, he said. Also, the 18-year-old nephew of the chief of staff of another minister was made director of a government company, Dr Busuttil added.
“People have been hit with a triple whammy. They aren’t getting the opportunities they should. They are paying the salaries of unfit government appointees and, as a result, are also paying for a bad service,” he said.