Former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said Tuesday that he has “no doubt” he will be criminally charged following the conclusion of the magisterial inquiry into the Vitals hospitals deal.

“I have no doubt it will happen. We are prepared for it, but we’re coming out fighting,” he said at a press conference.

He said that if justice exists, he will be a free man. “Just as the Egrant inquiry exonerated me completely, the same will happen here. I know what I did and didn’t do,” Muscat said. 

He said that the inquiry was politically motivated, and said that the institutions are working against Labourites. 

He said that it is of concern that the inquiry report was concluded and handed over while nominations for the European Parliament and local council elections were being received.

On Tuesday, a court hearing a case submitted by former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to take the inquiry magistrate off the case, heard that the Vitals inquiry had been concluded on Thursday 24 April and was sent to the Attorney General’s office on 25 April.

Addressing journalists, Muscat said that what was happening was a political vendetta on him and the country.

Muscat accused his detractors of attempting to “jam the workings of the government” by pursuing the criminal complaint on the Vitals hospitals privatisation.

The former PM said that the whole process of the inquiry took five years to complete, and it cost the country millions. He again insisted that the entire process was vitiated, given that there were leaks. 

He said he will face any development without fear, but he will ensure that his persecutors will have to answer for their actions. “Should I be freed from any accusations, I will make sure to seek damages from those responsible for this persecution,” Muscat said.

Muscat also said that people taking legal action against him were linked with a Nationalist establishment. “The PN and Repubblika criticise the AG constantly… certainly any prosecution against me by the AG would do me no favours. Yes, the magistrate has acted politically. But I have trust in other members of the judiciary.”

Muscat said that after the Egrant issue passed, "and it was proved signatures were falsified, it was as though nothing happened." He said nothing happened to the person who claimed to be a Whistleblower. "This time the situation will be different against those who chose to lie against me."

When asked about his statement that the Muscat family was braced for another Egrant situation, Muscat said that he doesn't know anything. He said that when faced with situations like what happened two years ago, when he said that people were openly saying that his house was going to be raided and then it happened, as well as up until last week when the same people were saying that the public inquiry would conclude which also happened, he has no doubt that that he will be charged, but they are braced for it. He added, however, they aren't braced for impact to avoid damage that rather to come out fighting.

When questioned about Anglu Farrugia's resignation following a comment he made against the judiciary in 2012, and if he thinks that the comments being made by the Prime Minister on the judiciary are more serious, Muscat answered that he thinks in the case of Farrugia he acted too quickly and today he understands what Farrugia had said.

When questioned about his relationship with the Labour Party, he said that at times he reads that he is at  loggerheads with the Prime Minister and that they aren't on talking terms, but then is asked if he was in cahoots with the Prime Minister for the "political terrorism" comment. Muscat said that he has a relationship in which they frequently maintain contact, but they had never spoken about the "political terrorism" comment, and they didn't speak since last week.

When questioned about his comment that certain institutions are working against Labourites, he said that 'the magistrate' is one of them, in what is being taken to mean the inquiring magistrate. He elaborated that he is not speaking about the judiciary but the magistrate. He went on to say that, as the PN and Repubblika criticise the Attorney General, they are not criticising the judiciary, and he is doing the same thing with regards to this magistrate.

Muscat also said that he saw so many of the "usual suspects" rubbing their hands in anticipation and promising a big reveal following the public inquiry, he assumes that he will be accused of something. "Bring it on. I'm ready to fight in the ring. I had hung up my gloves and left four years ago but if someone wants to bring me back in the ring, I'll go in for a fight. And I will win it. Not because I'm stronger but because I am saying what is right."

Muscat's legal counsel Charlon Gouder said Muscat was never indicated as a suspect in the complaint filedby Repubblika on the hospitals privatisation.

He pointed out that the inquiry was tainted by the political allegiances of Magistrate Vella’s family members and the statements they made on social media about the inquiry. “This inquiry has been polluted by this bias, and because of this lack of trust in the magistrate, together with the ongoing cases on constitutional breaches, should have stayed the conclusion of the inquiry.”

Gouder said Muscat was never asked to testify before this inquiry, despite his wish to do so.