The Malta Independent 8 May 2024, Wednesday
View E-Paper

PN MPs to ask Konrad Mizzi to again appear before PAC

Monday, 5 September 2022, 10:19 Last update: about 3 years ago

The PN members of the Public Accounts Committee are going to ask former minister and former MP Konrad Mizzi to again appear before the committee, following recent revelations.

The Daphne Foundation said on Sunday that it has obtained a copy of the LNG Security of Supply Agreement that Konrad Mizzi had signed with SOCAR, "an undisclosed state guarantee for Electrogas that Joseph Muscat's government kept hidden from public view, including from banks and the European Commission." It said that getting hold of the secret agreement took a year-long Freedom of Information battle with Miriam Dalli's Ministry, "which originally rejected the freedom of information request for access to the potentially unlawful agreement. We filed a complaint about that refusal with the Information and Data Protection Commisioner, who then decided in our favour."

ADVERTISEMENT

"The Information and Data Protection Commissioner found that the Ministry for Environment, Energy, and Enterprise had no grounds to use any of the FOI Act exemptions it had listed as reasons for refusing our request, and decided that the Ministry must grant us access to the secret agreement. We have now received a copy of the document. Public authorities repeatedly deny access to information by refusing FOI requests on spurious grounds. The Foundation is challenging the FOI Act in Malta's Constitutional Court. The court case aims to limit state authorities' arbitrary refusals to provide information in the public interest and to reverse the culture of secrecy behind their claims of privacy and commercial sensitivity, enabling public interest journalism to hold power to account."

In a short statement. PN MPs Darren Carabott - who is also the Chair of the committee, David Agius and Graham Bencini - two PN members of the committee, said that after the recent revelations, "it is clear that Konrad Mizzi still has questions to answer."

  • don't miss