Deputy speaker Claudette Buttigieg this evening accepted the Opposition's request for a special debate into the allegations being made against Economy Minister Chris Cardona, ruling that it is an issue of urgent and national interest.
Deputising for Speaker Anglu Farrugia, who is abroad, Buttigieg ruled that a motion to debate allegation that Cardona was seen in the company of one of three men accused with murdering Daphne Caruana Galizia should be debated in the House, pushing aside the agenda that was to discuss embryon freezing.
Speaking in the debate, PN leader Adrian Delia stressed that the Prime Minister had promised a blank cheque to find the people behind the murder of Caruana Galizia.
A group of journalists from organisations around the world came together under ‘The Daphne Project’ to continue the slain journalist’s work. She was murdered in a car bomb on 16 October 2017. On Tuesday evening, the journalists released a story saying an eye witness spotted Economy Minister Chris Cardona with one of the murder suspects in November 2017, after the murder took place. He denied ever having any knowledge speaking with any of the suspects.
“Minister Cardona, in Parliament, will he come to explain to the Maltese population about what international and local media are saying, that he met one of the murder suspects?
“Did the Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar know about this?”
Delia ridiculed Cutajar (above) for choosing to bring former PN leader Simon Busuttil in for questioning after it was alleged his personal car was used to stick anti-corruption posters on public places, but instead choosing not to investigate serious leads to serious crimes.
He said it was incredulous how in Malta, nobody carried any form of responsibility for the brutal murder of Caruana Galizia. He questioned how it was possible that absolutely nobody shouldered responsibility, not the Police Commissioner, nor the Prime Minister or any other government minister.
“They do not all have to shoulder responsibility, how is it possible that nobody came forward?” In Slovakia, where a similar crime had taken place, heads had rolled, but in Malta nothing happened.
Delia delivered a series of questions, first asking if the police commissioner knew about the allegations relating to Chris Cardona, and if he did what did he do about it, if he did not know, will he do something about it now?
He asked similar questions about the Prime Minister, asking if he is going to do anything about this new allegation.
The Attorney General, Peter Grech (above) came under fire next, with Delia saying he too needs to shoulder responsibility.
Delia made reference to a story that was published on Thursday evening on The Times of Malta where it released a newly leaked document about how Minister Konrad Mizzi and the PM’s chief of staff Keith Schembri’s Panama companies where to receive payment from two companies registered in Dubai, 17 Black and Macbridge. The former received €1.3 million in November 2015, the local paper reports.
The Opposition leader repeatedly questioned whether the people deserve to have these issues settled and answered.
Delia said that the news organisations involved were clear that the stories will not end here.
In his intervention, Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne said that the rule of law requires that a magistrate is called upon to investigate a murder, and the police are called upon to gather evidence. The work of the police is to bring that evidence to the inquiring magistrate, he told the House.
“If you all believe in the rule of law, then you should allow the judicial process to take its course. We need to be careful, and leave speculation for those who like to speculate. This House is supposed to be made up of responsible persons.
“Nobody is above the law, and we must follow the law.”
He said that the bar in question is close to the Opposition leader’s home, and challenged him to say whether he ever entered inside that bar in his life.
He questioned whether if anybody close to Delia has some form of a relationship with one of the accused.
Fearne posed these questions, parroting Delia’s sound-bite of the evening: “The people have a right to know”. He made reference to allegations made by the slain journalist’s allegations about Delia and his involvement with processing funds stemming from a brothel in London, saying if the House is giving credence to other allegations then they should give credence to this one.
Delia animatedly said that the motion being discussed is about Minister Cardona’s possible involvement and not about allegations, reminding Fearne that when a motion was raised in Parliament for all of Caruana Galizia’s stories be investigated officially, the PN voted yes but government turned it down.
PL MP Glenn Bedingfield challenged the PN MPs to state whether any of them had defended George Degiorgio, one of the murder suspects. He challenged PN MP Mario De Marco in particular to reply.
De Marco called a point of order, saying that the government is not making a distinction between the very serious allegations being made against Minister Cardona.
He conceded that De Marco represented Degiorgio over an apartment in St Paul’s Bay in a civil case, dating back to 2011.
Bedingfield took the opportunity to question De Marco since he has a relationship with one of the accused and Caruana Galizia was highly critical of his family.
The debate descended into personal attacked being levelled by and against both sides of the House. PL MP Zammit Lewis quoted Caruana Galizia’s most damning words against the Adrian Delia.
In a short address, Partit Demokratiku MP Godfrey Farrugia said that the government was not taking responsibility and safeguarding the people's interests. In this moment in time, the government would do well to be responsible towards what is right.
An argument between both sides of the House ensued about whether the adjournment should be used to continue the debate since the PN lost their speaking time due to the many point of orders they raised.
The PN used their adjournment speak as part of the debate informally. Fearne read out the agenda for the next Parliamentary session at a rate at least 3 times slower then is usually read out, presumably to eat into the PN’s closing speech.
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Earlier (before the Speaker's ruling)
Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia requested that the parliamentary agenda be suspended for a ministerial statement and urgent debate on allegations levelled against Economy Minister Chris Cardona as part of ‘The Daphne Project’. The Parliament session was temporarily suspended until deputy speaker Claudette Buttigieg took a decision on the matter.
Delia invoked article 13, a procedural clause detailing how a ministerial statement can be requested for issues of national importance, superseding the parliamentary plenary session.
He made reference to a partnership of internationally renowned news organisations that are publishing several stories related to slain journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
In one story, witnesses described seeing Cardona speak with one of the murder suspects at a Siggiewi bar he is known to frequent. The minister denied ever having any knowledge of speaking with any of the murder suspects.
Delia said the stories necessitate the government answering pertinent questions in the name of public interest and called on the government to make a ministerial statement on the matter. He made comparisons to Health Minister Chris Fearne making a ministerial statement on an incident related to stored embryos.
He asked the government to make a ministerial statement and subsequent discussion, adding that should itrefuse, he should substantiate his reasons for doing so.
Fearne, answering as Deputy Prime Minister while the Prime Minister is away on a work trip, said that the motion also requires the issue be urgent. On Tuesday in Parliament, the same day the first batch of stories were released, Delia requested a ministerial statement but failed to invoke any procedural clauses such as article 13 so Government MPs denied the request.
Fearne said Delia failed to follow procedure the previous day, today the urgency is gone and he is therefore rejecting the request. He suggested that the PN present a Private Members’ Bill.
Delia hit back by saying in any legal clause, urgency is usually linked with a time-frame. In this case it is not, he questioned what constitutes as urgency, getting highly animated and questioning whether the public interest a matter of urgency.
After being interrupted by several ‘point of orders’, Delia continued to question whether a possible change in the direction of the murder investigations would not constitute a matter of urgency?
He reminded the House how the Prime Minister had spared no expense at throwing all possible resources in the investigations, and cautioned that the House must now decide whether the deferring discussions on the matter would have a detrimental effect and fail to serve the public interest.