PN leadership contender Adrian Delia this morning said that blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia had launched a “personal and manipulative attack on my family and myself”.
In a statement, Delia said that he has nothing to hide and “everything is transparent and legal”.
Delia’s statement is as follows:
“Yesterday evening I received a phone call from blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia. Her tone of voice was somewhat hysterical but I calmly explained to her all the facts related to the debt of a company in which I have a minor shareholding of 9%. She clearly ignored the fact that the said company has actually more assets than debts.
“This is not an acceptable way of reporting a sensitive political process like the election of a party leader. It is purely a personal and manipulative attack on my family and myself.
“As I have reiterated more than once, I decided to do like other past candidates from previous PN leadership elections and publish a declaration of assets once I enter politics. But these baseless attacks on my family and myself are not normal, and put forward a worrisome question: why these kind of attacks, and who is behind them? This is all a waste of precious time during which we could be discussing political proposals for our party and country. Instead, we are asked to discuss people’s personal lives.
“I have absolutely nothing to hide and everything is transparent and legal. Anyone who is alleging otherwise is trying to deceive people. Now more than ever, we need A New Way of doing politics.
“My financial position is solid. I have a personal investment of 9% shareholding in a company that is developing a property in Gozo. The value of this property owned by the company, by far exceeds the capital invested on this project and the remaining dues. I clearly explained this to Daphne Caruana Galizia, but she chose not to publish this important fact.
“I have also declared my intention, if elected leader of the Party, to initiate a process of selling all of my business interests, in order not to have any commercial relationship or obligation during the time I serve in politics. Moreover, I also declared that for all the time I serve in politics, as well as after, I would continue declaring my assets and debts, so that everyone would know my actions during politics, and not just before.
“The Nationalist Party cannot remain silent in front of those who want to keep pulling the strings whenever they want to. We need a strong, united party that discusses politics for the people, and not about the people in politics. We need A New Way, politics for the people, a bottom-to-top approach and not the other-way round where those in power dictate people’s thoughts.”