Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s silence on the latest Gaffarena scandal shows he does not have the will to fight corruption, according to the Opposition.
Shadow justice minister Jason Azzopardi and planning spokesman Ryan Callus yesterday hit out at the government’s lack of reaction to a news report in The Sunday Times of Malta that revealed how Marco Gaffarena wanted to buy a Valletta property that currently houses a police station.
The sale was put off after this newspaper revealed in May the manoeuvres behind a controversial expropriation of another Valletta property that saw Mr Gaffarena receive €1.6 million in cash and land from the government.
Marco Gaffarena was in negotiations with the owners of Palazzo Verdelin in Valletta last March to buy their property for €3.5 million to sell it to the government at a profit.
Palazzo Verdelin, an imposing 16th-century palace in Archbishop Street, directly facing St George’s Square, is currently being used as the Valletta police station.
The various scandals confirm that corruption not only can be felt but is not being fought
The government uses the building through an emphyteusis agreement which ends in 2028. By then, the government must vacate the property and return the building to owners.
But one of the owners of Palazzo Verdelin told the newspaper that Mr Gaffarena had contacted them with an offer, telling them the government would eventually acquire the building.
Dr Azzopardi yesterday asked Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela whether the government had the intention of buying the property when the lease agreement expired.
“The Prime Minister has no will and interest to fight corruption in his government, and the various scandals confirm that corruption not only can be felt but is not being fought,” Dr Azzopardi said.
Mr Callus said many questions about the latest revelations remained unanswered, including how Mr Gaffarena got to know of the government’s intention to buy the palazzo.
In a reaction, the government said the Nationalist Party had no credibility to criticise it over corruption after failing to enact important legislation over a 25-year span.
It said the Labour government had, in just two years, introduced laws that removed the time-bar on corruption for politicians, regulated political party financing and introduced a Whistleblower Act.