Earlier this week, this newspaper asked Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, former health minister Konrad Mizzi and current Health Minister Chris Fearne the following questions. Here are their replies:
Have you ever had contact with the Libyan Khaled Ben Nasan, who served as the middleman between Neville Gafà and the Libyan people?
If yes how many times did you meet and what was discussed?
Have you ever spoken to Neville Gafà, who is appointed as a person of trust within your government, with regard to the medical visas situation?
If yes did it happen before the scandal broke in the media or afterwards? If you have met Mr Gafà, what explanation did he give you on the situation?
How many times did you meet Mr Gafà to discuss this issue?
In view of these allegations, why has Mr Gafà not been suspended from work until investigations have been carried out?
Joseph Muscat
Dr Muscat met the said person some years back during the Libyan revolution when he purported to have messages from the new Libyan authorities. On becoming Prime Minister, Dr Muscat met with the same person as part of a wider outreach with foreign communities in Malta and during public events. The said person also insisted regularly on having further private meetings with the Prime Minister but these were refused after he did not meet the necessary clearance requirements.
The Prime Minister has never spoken to Neville Gafà about the case, which was referred for Police investigation right away. Mr Gafà was also asked not to do any work in relation to the facilitation of medical visas pending investigation.
Contrary to the Opposition leader, the Prime Minister trusts the institutions to do their job and will not interfere to change the outcome of an investigation.
Konrad Mizzi
I confirm that I have never met the Libyan national mentioned in your questions. As soon as I received information on the matter (through a lawyer acting for the Libyan national), I referred this information to the Attorney General for guidance. Acting on such guidance, instructions were immediately given for all information available to be referred to the civil service for appropriate action. You may wish to note that, in the meantime, the responsibility for health was transferred to another Ministry and no further action was taken at my end.
Chris Fearne
Minister Fearne was made aware of the allegations against Neville Gafà a few days after becoming Health Minister. Minister Konrad Mizzi had sent the issue to the Attorney General and on receipt of advice, Minister Fearne (who had taken over the Ministry in the meantime) gave immediate instructions to the Permanent Secretary to report the matter to the police.
Mr Gafà was transferred from his Health Ministry office and his involvement with medical visa issues was stopped. Mr Gafa denied the allegations of improper conduct at all stages. In the event of a court arraignment by the police, Mr Gafà would have been suspended pending the court outcome. Mr Fearne never met Mr Khaled Ben Nasan.