(Adds PM's statement)
Opposition leader Simon Busuttil this afternoon called on the Prime Minister to “come clean” on the shooting incident involving a minister’s driver a few days ago and “tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth”.
Addressing a news conference this afternoon, Dr Busuttil said that if the Prime Minister had nothing to hide, he should publish the call logs from and to his mobile phone and those of his head of communications Kurt Farrugia, the assistant police Commissioner and Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia.
Should the Prime Minister not do this, the Opposition would have to insist he also shouldered political responsibility because he probably knew of the cover-up before appointing the inquiry.
But in a five-line statement this afternoon, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat insisted he will wait for the inquiry to be concluded before taking all the necessary decisions according to the resulting facts.
Dr Muscat said there was a fundamental difference between him and Opposition leader Simon Busuttil, who was opting to be selective and get out pieces of information which he believed served him well.
“I have appointed an independent inquiry which has access to all information including transcripts, recordings and any other evidence,” he said.
The PN media yesterday published the transcripts of telephone calls made following the incident in which the minister’s driver shot at a car which had hit the ministerial car.
That night, the government issued a statement saying that warning shots in the air had been fired.
Dr Busuttil said that the transcripts, of telephone calls between the driver, the police commissioner and the minister, left no doubt that the government statement was a cover-up.
Dr Busuttil said the Opposition was angry and disgusted at the dishonesty being shown and at how the truthwas not coming from the government or Public Broadcasting Services but from the Opposition and the independent media.
He said it was clear from the transcripts that Dr Mallia, Acting Commissioner Ray Zammit, and Mr Farrugia knew the truth before the government statement was issued.
The minister also lied when addressing a conference on the following day and said he did not know what happened. The transcripts were clear proof that he did so there was no doubt that his position was no longer tenable. The positions of the acting Commissioner and Mr Farrugia were also untenable and they should be removed.
Dr Busuttil asked if Mr Farrugia told the Prime Minister what had happened before the statement was issued.
It was obvious to the Opposition that the Prime Minister was informed of everything for it was impossible that someone so close to him did not inform him of such a grievous incident.
This also exposed the Prime Minister’s deceit to appoint an inquiry to see if there was a cover up when he and his head of communications knew this was the case. He said when asked that he had not been sent for to give evidence by the inquiry and reiterated that he believed the inquiry was useless.