Konrad Mizzi has again said that he will not be attending a Public Accounts Committee meeting where he was set to be questioned on the Electrogas power station contract.
The former energy minister was set to appear on Tuesday, but on a Facebook post on Monday morning he said that he had told the committee that he and his lawyers will only be available from Wednesday 3 November.
It’s the fourth time that Mizzi has fobbed off the committee’s summon.
Mizzi refused the first two summons to the committee, saying that the process was a partisan witch hunt led by the Nationalist MPs on the committee and adding that he had every right to refuse to attend given that he is still an (independent) MP.
The Opposition had then filed a motion for the whole House to vote and force Mizzi to appear. Mizzi however anticipated the vote, which was on the same day as the Prime Minister’s reaction to the Budget, and said that he would attend the meeting – only to then not turn up because his lawyer had not had enough time to prepare.
Mizzi was kicked out of the Labour parliamentary group in June 2020.
In a statement, NGO Repubblika said that Konrad Mizzi has to stop insulting the Maltese public and that Parliament has to respect the people and itself before Mizzi’s arrogance.
The NGO said that it expects Mizzi to grow a spine and appear before the PAC to respond for his actions as minister, saying that Mizzi is obliged to give account of his actions to Parliament and to the people.
“Whoever is innocent does not escape,” the NGO said, calling on Mizzi to stop his “banal and infantile” excuses.
They also called on Parliament – the Prime Minister, the government and opposition sides, and the Speaker – to take a clear position that Mizzi has to answer for his actions, saying that if they fail to do so they will be complicit with Mizzi in “covering up and corruption.”
They said that they also expect the Police Commissioner to do his duty and charge all those politicians involved in “theft from the Maltese people through corruption.”
Independent general election candidate Arnold Cassola meanwhile has called on Standards Commissioner George Hyzler to open an investigation into Mizzi's behaviour.