Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne told the Malta Independent on Sunday that he would have gotten rid of Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri when the Panama Papers were released.

The Malta Independent on Sunday sent a set of identical questions to both PL leadership contenders – Fearne and PL MP Robert Abela – asking them both about Malta’s energy problem, whether they will launch an inquiry into the Electrogas deal, Malta’s reputation, the centralisation of power and political responsibility.

Fearne replied by the deadline he was given, Friday evening; Abela did not.

The PL leadership election is set to take place on Saturday, and the current Prime Minister – Joseph Muscat – is expected to step down sometime after. Whoever wins the election will become PM.

In 2016, then Energy and Health Minister Konrad Mizzi and then Muscat’s Chief of Staff Keith Schembri had been found to have opened companies in the secretive jurisdiction of Panama. The Panama Papers scandal has been hanging over the government’s head since it originally broke.

It was later discovered that Yorgen Fenech, who is now charged in connection with the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, was the owner of 17 Black. Leaked emails had listed 17 Black as a potential target client of Mizzi and Schembri’s Panama companies.  Schembri had said that it never became a client of his, and Mizzi said he had no association with 17 Black.

On Malta’s energy issues, Fearne said that if elected, his government would continue working on the Melita TransGas Pipeline from Delimara (Malta) to Gela (Italy), and also look into different forms of energy storage.

See full interview here