The prime minister had started the year with a promise to strengthen the fight against corruption, yet this had turned out to be a year bursting with scandals, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said this morning.

Speaking at a political activity in Sliema, Dr Busuttil wondered how Education Minister Evarist Bartolo could claim that he did not have the 'smoking gun' for immediate action against his canvasser Edward Caruana over alleged corruption in the Foundation for Tomorrow's Schools when Mr Caruana had built an apartment block in Gozo at the same time as he was allegedly taking commissions from contractors doing works for the foundation.

Mr Bartolo had refused to resign, Dr Busuttil observed, and instead he was now seeking shelter from the corruption allegations by his person of trust through Prime Minister Joseph Muscat.

Mr Bartolo had announced he would definitely contest the next general election because he was indebted to Dr Muscat. 

“Of course he will run for election, now that he needs Joseph Muscat’s protection,”Dr Busuttil said.  

Referring to media reports that the canvasser, Edward Caruana, had built a block of apartments at the same time he was allegedly taking commissions from contractors doing works for the foundation, Dr Busuttil said that if this wasn’t a smoking gun, he didn’t know what was. 

The Sunday Times of Malta reported today how Mr Caruana had hand-delivered nearly €9 million worth of cheques to tens of contractors and suppliers involved in works at government schools over the last three years.

The police and the government’s Internal Audit and Investigations Department are analysing the hundreds of cheques.

Dr Busuttil said this was only the latest of a series of scandals to rock the labour administration. 

If people wanted to see an end to the corruption which was gripping the country’s institutions”, then voting for  a PN government was the only way to ensure political change, he said. 

Dr Busuttil started his 45-minute speech by quoting the Prime Minister’s New Year speech: “We will continue to strengthen the fight against corruption, where we have already exposed institutionalised corruption, we will continue to endeavour to do so”.

This was at the very start of this year, he said - a year bursting with political scandals. 

Dr Busuttil gave a long list of various corruption cases uncovered over the past 12 months, insisting action had seldom been taken. 

“The Prime Minister tells us that he has taken action, but he hasn’t taken any. The worst of it all is that he tells us this with a straight face,” Dr Busuttl said.