The Labour party and government have been “betrayed from the inside, by one of our own,” Deputy Prime Minister and Labour leader hopeful Chris Fearne writes in an opinion today.

In an apparent dig at disgraced OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri, Fearne writes that “the knife in our back was held by whoever forgot why we are in politics and why we are in this party. We are not in the dark because we deserve to be but because one of ours switched off the light.”

17 Black owner Yorgen Fenech, who stands accused of being a mastermind in the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, and pardoned middleman Melvin Theuma, have both highlighted Schembri’s involvement in the aftermath of the crime.

A court heard this week how Fenech told Theuma he was being helped by Schembri, who was apparently leaking sensitive information from the murder investigation. In conversations recorded by Theuma, Fenech allegedly said Schembri would “run through fire for him”. Fenech also allegedly said Schembri got involved because of their friendship, and that the former chief of staff once told him “you should have come to me sooner.”

Melvin Theuma also told a court he had met with Schembri at Castille, and that the former chief of staff was involved in his employment with government – a job he got paid for despite never reporting for work.

Fearne says that, while this is a dark moment for the party, the PL has not forgotten its principles of what it stands for. “We have not forgotten where we came from. We have not forgotten the phenomenal success we have made of this country since 2013. We have not forgotten to remain united.” 

“That we have been betrayed should not demoralise us,” he says. “On the contrary, it should encourage us more than ever not to betray the one hundred years of history, of struggles, of great leaders and their successes which brought us here.”

Fearne says he wants Malta to again stand tall, “shoulder to shoulder with our European partners as equals, in principles as much as in achievements. I am sure that with everyone’s help, we will get there.”

Full article here