The only person responsible for persecution in the Siġġiewi voter fraud is Prime minister Robert Abela, the Nationalist Party said in a statement Monday.

“The Labour Party deceived and manipulated people, some of them vulnerable, in an attempt to steal the Siġġiewi Local Council. The Court has already confirmed electoral fraud, even requesting an investigation by the Police to identify the people who carried out this deceit and manipulation,” it said.

Earlier on Monday Abela dodged a question posed by a MaltaToday journalist regarding the position of Social Housing Minister Roderick Galdes in the wake of the Siġġiewi voter fraud. In his responses, the Prime Minister blamed the Nationalist Party for inflicting this “martyrdom” onto the affected families.

Last Wednesday, a magistrate ordered police to investigate and identify the public officials and entities “who had manipulated voters into changing their address to a Siġġiewi construction site ahead of the upcoming local council and EU elections.”

When asked whether Minister Galdes is still tenable to remain in Cabinet given these findings, through the cases opened by the Nationalist Party, Abela said that he is more concerned about “PN’s persecution of 84 families.”

“The only person responsible for persecution is Robert Abela, who got voters into trouble to try to steal the Siġġiewi Council through deceit and fraud," the PN said.