In view of John Dalli's serious accusations today that OLAF and Swedish Match were “out to get him”, Alternattiva Demokratika is asking the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schultz, to invite Jose Manuel Barroso for an open hearing on the matter.

In a letter to European Parliament President Martin Schultz, Alternattiva Demokratika Chairman Prof. Arnold Cassola said that Dalli today has made grave accusations. He said that “They were out to get me because they knew that with me as the Commissioner there would be a tough tobacco directive, full stop. I think that was the Commission’s motivation. I had met European Commission President José Manuel Barroso in October 2011 [a full year before he was controversially dismissed from his post] and he had tried to tell me to go slow on the tobacco directive, that we would have a lot of legal problems.  But I had told him plainly that I had a political commitment to Europe’s citizens, and that I was going ahead with the directive as a whole.”

Mr Dalli is also implying that Commission Secretary General Caterine Day had an interest in postponing the launch of the tobacco directive first from the original 22 August 2012 to September, and then to a second date and, finally, after his dismisal, to a third date.

In view of these serious allegations by John Dalli on entrapment involving even a member and a high official of the Commission, the Green Party of Malta is asking President Schultz to organise a public hearing in Parliament with EC President Jose Manuel Barroso, as demanded by Green MEPS Bove' and States.

Any further refusal on the part of the Parliament Presidency to hold this hearing would be sending out the erroneous message to the people that the Presidency of the European Parliament also has something to hide.