While the European Parliament was debating the Ports Directive, Socialist MEP John Attard Montalto was on a cruise starting from Mexico informed sources told The Malta Independent on Sunday.
This information seems to give the lie to what was declared by Labour leader Alfred Sant on Friday when he told the media that Dr Attard Montalto was on a “personal political assignment”.
Informed sources told this paper that the only “officialism” involved is actually a ruse used by MEPs time and again to avoid paying for a trip themselves.
The European Parliament pays e3,600 per year to MEPs for visits outside the EU. All they need is an invitation from any organisation or a personal invitation for the money to be approved. And that is what Dr Attard Montalto did.
Dr Attard Montalto was on the cruise together with his family.
Other sources told the paper that it could not be that Dr Attard Montalto was on EP political business for it is a well-known rule that all delegations do not travel abroad when there are plenary sessions of the EP.
Independently of these sources, this newspaper has evidence that the upper echelons of the Labour Party did not know about Dr Attard Montalto’s absence from the Strasbourg hearing and reacted with signs of panic when they were told on Wednesday.
The Strasbourg hearings, also marked by violent protests by representatives of port workers from all over Europe, turned down the proposed directive with a thumping majority. General Workers Union members from Malta also participated and the two other Socialist MEPs, along with the two PN ones, voted against the directive. GWU paper l-orizzont claimed the result was “a big victory”.
Internal Labour Party sources told this newspaper yesterday there was a feeling of resentment as “the leadership is closing its eyes to misbehaviour and code of conduct. If this is the message then we have serious problems.”
This is not the first time that Dr Attard Montalto has been out of synch with the other Labour MEPs. When the EP voted on the European Constitution, he was in Malta on professional work and when the other Labour MEPs voted against the Working Time Directive, he had abstained.
The Labour Party, however, is not the only one having internal problems. Last week, having spoken out against the Budget proposals on property, former minister John Dalli stayed away when it was put to the vote in the House of Representatives.