Opposition leader Joseph Muscat said this morning that declarations by Nationalist MPs that they were concerned over the power station extension contract were not enough.
Speaking in Paola this morning, he said the people, particularly those in the south, would suffer the consequences of this contract. So one was either with the government, or not. One was either with the people, or not.
The Opposition, he said, would not wait to see if any MPs were man enough to act in Parliament according to their concerns. The opposition, therefore, would, in due course, announce further action as was appropriate.
Dr Muscat said he just wanted to remind the government MPs that those who did not fight corruption were corrupt.
Earlier, the PL leader called on the government to publish its contract with Danish company BWSC.
He said the PL was satisfied that all eight points it had raised with the Auditor-General had been confirmed.
The Auditor-General, he said, had not found conclusive evidence of corruption only because those close to the case had said they had forgotten what had taken place, or did not cooperate. Thus the auditor had expressed his serious concerns about the case.
Those who had not cooperated, had forgotten or were evasive, included in particular, Joseph Mizzi, the local agent of BWSC, the Danish company which was awarded the contract. It was amazing that a man who had received a €4m commission could have forgotten the facts, Dr Muscat said.
If Dr Gonzi was happy with this report, it only brought out the differences between the PN and the PL on their views of standards in public administration, Dr Muscat said.
Dr Muscat noted that the auditor had expressed his concern over how emission thresholds were lowered while the tender was being processed. In this way, the BWSC machinery could fall within requirements, Dr Muscat said. The auditor had said the tendering process should have been stopped.
The auditor had also argued that the chairman of Enemalta should have resigned because of his conflict of interest - since he was an employee of the contractor who bid for the civil works contract. Mr Tranter had only declared his conflict of interest after appointing the members of the tenders adjudicating committees.
The auditor had also said he was not convinced about the replies he had been given by public officials over how Lehmeyer International, which was blacklisted by the World Bank and had also been represented by Joe Mizzi, was chosen to serve as consultant on this project.
The auditor had confirmed that Mr Mizzi had inside information from Enemalta. He also described the selected BWSC equipment as 'a risk decision' since it was a new untried design, Dr Muscat said.
Yet Dr Gonzi was acting like nothing untoward had happened.
Dr Muscat said the prime minister was politically responsible for what had happened. The alarm was raised in May last year, when the auditor was asked by the Public Accounts Committee to hold his investigation. The contract was then signed in haste while the investigation was still under way.
The Prime Minister could have acted for the contract not to be signed until the situation was clarified. The Prime Minister was also responsible for the actions of minister Austin Gatt, who was the responsible minister at the time, and the chairman of Enemalta.
"Dr Gonzi is defending the indefensibe," Dr Muscat said. Therefore PL, at the opprtune moments, would take whatever action was necessary. Today, he said, the opposition was asking the governemnt to publish its secret contract with BWSC.
Declarations by government MPs that they were 'concerned' were not enough. The people, particularly those in the south, would suffer the consequences of this contract. So one was either with the government, or not. One was either with the people, or not.
The truth would be revealed when the vote on this issue was taken in Parliament, Dr Muscat said. But the Opposition would not wait to see if any MPs were man enough to act according to their concerns. It would, therefore, in Parliament, announce further action as was appropriate, Dr Muscat said.
He just wanted to remind the government MPs that those who did not fight corruption were corrupt.
SOLIDARITY WITH BIANCA ZAMMIT
Earlier in his speech, Dr Muscat expressed his full solidarity with Bianca Zammit, who was shot and injured yesterday during a protest in the Gaza strip.
He said the Maltese government should protest tot he Israeli government over the way a Maltese citizen could have been killed during a peaceful protest.