Nationalist Party spokesman for justice Jason Azzopardi said this afternoon that the Cafe Premier scandal is a textbook case of sleaze that could not stink more.

Addressing the media, Dr Azzopardi said that the Prime Minister had put himself in this embarrassing position after being personally involved in the deal, even using his personal email account

Over the past week, the PN has been insisting on the PM to take political responsibility after an auditor general report which slammed the way the government had paid €4.2 million to the operators of Cafe Premier, which closed on the eve of the general election.

The Prime Minister lied when he said the way the Cafe Premier deal was handled was a mistake, Dr Azzopardi said, noting the “calculated effort to hide the scandal,” such as Dr Muscat’s use of a private email address.

Dr Azzopardi said the Prime Minister met Mario Camilleri, one of the owners of Cafe Premier before the March 2013 election.

The premises were closed on the pretence of improving accessibility to the national library, yet a year-and-a-half on the doors to the Cafe are still closed, Dr Azzopardi said.

This in spite of the €4.2 million ‘bailout’ deal being sealed after just four months of negotiations.

Dr Azzopardi questioned why in a meeting held between Dr Muscat and Mr Camilleri on 17 April 2013, no representatives from the Lands Department or Finance Ministry were present.

He also questioned why the government felt the need to fork out €4.2 million when the Cafe Premier owners had received an identical offer from the private sector.

The whole handling of the deal was premeditated and not a genuine mistake as the PM is making it out to be, Dr Azzopardi said. 

Dr Azzopardi said the Opposition can call on the Public Accounts Committee to discuss the deal, but apart from that there is not much the Opposition can do. 

It is up to the PM to remedy the situation, he said. 

PN MP Ryan Callus said that it is not enough for the PM to say that the government has borne the political cost of the decision by letting the National Auditor's Office investigate the case. There should be more accountability for the transaction, he said.

It was the Opposition that called on the NAO to investigate the case and not the PM, Mr Callus said. 

"The Prime Minister is taking credit for this investigation. In a democratic country did he somehow think that he could have stopped the investigation... 

"The investigation alone is not enough, political responsibility must be borne by the PM," Mr Callus said. 

He questioned how all those individuals in debt must be feeling in light of this deal, which saw the government bailing out a private entity. 

"It is an injustice, everyone should be treated equally." 

PM’s intentions were genuine – Zammit Lewis

Quizzed by The Malta Independent in the morning, Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis said: “Everything the government spends is the public’s money.” He continued: “I have no doubt that the Prime Minister was genuine and knew what he was doing. But although we are an ambitious government we are also a humble one, and we have no problem acknowledging the Auditor-General’s suggestions.”

Asked if this meant he was admitting that things could have been done differently, Dr Zammit Lewis said that the report’s findings can’t be ignored. The report said that there was insufficient justification for the government’s decision not to pursue legal action in a bid to recoup the lease for Cafe Premier in Valletta.  The government had instead opted to pay Cities Entertainment €4.2 million for the 65-year lease in January 2014, an widely perceived as a bailout to an effectively insolvent company.

When questioned whether he had been made aware of the bailout beforehand, he replied that what is discussed during cabinet meetings cannot be revealed.

Government acted correctly - Bonnici

Meanwhile, hot on the heels of Dr Zammit Lewis’ comments, Justice Minister Owen Bonnici told this newsroom that the Auditor-General gave a higher estimate of the property value than what was actually paid to the lease holders - €4.2 million – which means that the government acted in a correct manner.

Dr Bonnici said that as a member of the cabinet he was informed of the decision after a memo was presented to members of the Cabinet.

“The only information I have is based on the memo presented to us, nothing more... nothing less,” he insisted.

 

Asked whether he feels that someone should shoulder responsibility, Dr Bonnici said: “What the Prime Minister meant when he acknowledged that things could have been done differently is tied to the process, in that the government tried to speed it up.”