ADPD – The Green Party said Saturday that actions and behaviour of some politicians posed a threat to democracy.

Deputy Chairperson Sandra Gauci said the recent publications of private chats between Member of Parliament Rosianne Cutajar and the entrepreneur Yorgen Fenech – who is also the alleged mastermind behind the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia – has once again brought strongly to the fore the close relationship that these businesspersons have with some politicians.

Fenech was not only close to Cutajar but also to Joseph Muscat and Keith Schembri. He is not the only one to receive such special treatment. One recalls developer Joseph Portelli boasting unashamedly in the media that he interacts with politicians on a daily basis and considers as normal the fact that he donates to the PL and the PN to ensure that they are both on his side. As ADPD – The Green Party has always made it clear: we never asked for and (thankfully) never were offered any donations by Portelli, she said.

The ambiguous position of Minister Silvio Schembri is also worrying. He is refusing to state whether he is paying rent for his constituencies’ offices in Siġġiewi and Luqa. These offices are owned by two property developers – Anton Camilleri and Paul Attard – both of whom sit on the Malta Developers Association’s Executive Committee. What is of concern is not just the arrogance being shown by Minister Schembri who is avoiding putting all his cards on the table as accountability demands of him, but the pervasiveness of the mentality of impunity and of low standards which is being seen repeatedly on a regular basis.

Members of Parliament should dedicate themselves exclusively to Parliamentary duties. Members of Parliament should not be allowed to carry out any other work while in office. This should also include Members of Parliament being precluded from sitting on Authorities’ and Commissions’ boards both in the public and private sector, she said.

ADPD – The Green Party General Secretary Dr Ralph Cassar referred to the consultancy contract awarded to Rosianne Cutajar by the ITS CEO. This showed the reciprocal scratch-my-back-and-I-will-scratch-yours mentality in place between the political appointees and politicians. It is a disgrace that public officials are not able to lead in a professional manner but concern themselves more with wasting public funds to satisfy the greed of the few.

According to Rosianne Cutajar there are quite a few others who do not consider politics as a service but as a means to satisfy their greed. We must put a stop to this! We are doind our part to fight this mentality and have in fact asked the Auditor General to investigate the ITS contract awarded to MP Rosianne Cutajar. There seem to be enough funds to satisfy MPs greed but no funds for decent salaries for nurses, teachers and other employees, he said.