Economy Minister and PL Deputy Leader Chris Cardona needs more than a video showing him participating in an EU conference in Germany as an alibi to refute allegations levelled by journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia that an eyewitness saw him at a German brothel engaging in sex for cash.
Replying to questions by The Malta Independent Director of Content Pierre Portelli during this week’s edition of INDEPTH on www.independent.com.mt, Minister Cardona said that he will present his ‘proof’ in court to show that he was not at the brothel as claimed by Mrs Caruana Galizia. He insisted that at the time he was at the conference and that he will present video evidence in court.
But soon after the programme went online, journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia replied on the comments board. “Cardona claims that he has a video ‘proving’ that he was at the conference when I reported that he was at the FKK Acapulco. This is impossible. I reported that he was there on Monday, 30 January between roughly 7pm and 10pm. This was the day BEFORE THE CONFERENCE BEGAN, and in any case, it was night-time.”
Minister Cardona filed for libel and asked the court to issue a garnishee order freezing almost €50,000 of the blogger’s assets, a first in Maltese history. But fans of Mrs Caruana Galizia’s blog managed to collect more than the required amount in just 36 hours, a sum she deposited with the court promising that should the money be released it will all go to Dar Merħba Bik, a charity that supports women. On her part, Mrs Caruana Galizia needs to put forward enough evidence in court to sustain her claim.
Soon after the issuance of the garnishee orders, the Nationalist Party promised to remove such a facility in the law. The government responded by presenting the new media bill which proposes that garnishee orders on journalists would not be allowed under the new law.
Asked if he was against such a proposal, Dr Cardona denied he was against the removal of garnishee orders as proposed by the government in the new media bill, yet he believes that he was right in being the first politician to file such a garnishee against a journalist freezing nearly €50,000 of her assets.
Pressed by Mr Portelli that this reveals a lack of consistency on his part, Dr Cardona said that while the law still permitted him to file a garnishee order against what he called “an extreme blogger”, he feels he did the right thing. The programme is available on this newsroom’s web portal and is distributed to FLiving TV and Campus FM.
Mrs Caruana Galizia alleged in her blog that Dr Cardona and his consultant were seen by an eyewitness in a German brothel while on government and EU work. Dr Cardona denied the allegations and filed for libel.
Asked to explain his lifestyle habits, Dr Cardona said that lifestyle is a perception that others have of an individual. The Minister said on INDEPTH that he was in favour of the removal of such garnishee warrants against journalists as proposed in the new media bill currently discussed in Parliament but not in the case of Daphne Caruana Galizia. He insisted that he has no regrets over his actions and has a clear conscience on the matter.
During the interview, it was revealed that the government will be changing the party financing law just after 10 months in existence in order to give the Labour Party a second chance to register. Minister Cardona conceded that the government needs to issue a legal notice to amend the law after the PL holds its national conference in which it will make the necessary changes to its statute to be able to register with the electoral commission.
He insisted that the PL was first to file an application but the Electoral Commission demanded changes to the PL’s statute for it to conform with the party financing law. Such changes were not effected within the period stipulated by law and the PL remains the sole party defying the historic new legislation, which it pioneered.
As things stand, the casual election which saw Clifton Grima taking Leo Brincat’s parliamentary seat last October could be legally challenged and possibly annulled because of the Labour party’s failure to comply with the Party Financing Law which requires every political party currently in existence to register with the Electoral Commission by the end of last year.
Visibly uncomfortable with the topic, Dr Cardona skirted around the issue. He claimed that the Labour Party has been in existence for decades and as such the Electoral Commission had to accept the nomination back in October, when the PL was still not registered according to law. The PL, however, is technically still ‘non-existent’ and in clear breach of the party financing law.
After the issue was brought up on INDEPTH, Minister for Justice and Culture Owen Bonnici said in Parliament that Clifton Grima’s casual election was valid because he contested the election in 2013 when the party financing law had not yet been presented in Parliament, thus he was elected on the merits of the people’s votes. The Times of Malta also followed up on The Malta Independent’s story and received the same replies from the Electoral Commission.
During the programme, Dr Cardona was pressed to declare whether or not this was a ploy by the PL to be able to sort undeclared donations it received from big business before it registers with the Electoral Commission. Deputy Leader Cardona denied such wrongdoing and shifted the argument to the Nationalist Party which is currently under investigation by the Electoral Commission over claims by db Group that ‘donations’ to the tune of €70,000 were disguised as commercial transactions.