PN Leader Bernard Grech has said that he is “genuinely worried” about Prime Minister Robert Abela’s “hazardous” behaviour in recent days.

Referring to Abela’s attitude in court, Grech recounted how earlier that day, Abela resorted to shouting when objecting to the PN’s presentation of the Vitals magisterial inquiry after it was leaked and published on Malta Today last Sunday.

Grech said that, till this day, the government has done nothing to recover the €400 million paid to Vitals and Steward as part of this fraudulent deal. He noted that the same inquiry revealed that Vitals was among the first to know about the early general election back in 2017. The PN Leader questioned the reason behind this and suggested that the early election might have been intended to ensure the continuation of the money flow to Vitals.

He also mentioned that despite the government’s claims of doing everything within its power to recover the €400 million, it hasn’t initiated any actions to reclaim even a portion of it. Grech pointed out that it was only former PN Leader Adrian Delia who started the court procedures.

Grech stated that the Prime Minister knows it is not worth opening a case against Steward Health Care to recover the €400 million because everyone involved in the deal would have to return the money. Additionally, Abela was warned about the deal being fraudulent, yet he continued to defend it and make payments, Grech noted.

Comparing Steward to a bad contractor, the PN Leader remarked that any sensible person would not hire someone with a bad reputation, let alone continue to fund them. He said that rather than acting like a normal person, Abela agreed to maintain the deal and continued funding them despite written warnings.

Discussing the case further, Grech noted that it was Steward Healthcare who opened the arbitration case at the International Chamber of Commerce, contrary to Abela's statements. Steward opened this case to continue receiving funds.

Referring to the latest court case, where the Attorney General’s powers are being tested to determine whether she can open a case against Steward to recover the €400 million, Grech said that the case will conclude soon and provide an answer.

The PN Leader also spoke about tomorrow’s criminal court arraignment of former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, his chief of staff Keith Schembri, and former Minister Konrad Mizzi.

Regarding Muscat, Grech said that he and his family could have easily cooperated with the police by giving them their phone passwords instead of forcing the AG to send them to Washington in the United States. He mentioned that the magisterial inquiry costed €11 million because the AG had to hire several experts, some of whom were paid to unlock the phones. He suggested that these individuals have something to hide on their phones, noting that ironically, Schembri also lost his phone.

He said that having a former Prime Minister facing charges of fraud and misappropriation, among others, in a criminal court damages Malta’s reputation significantly, and the nation cannot allow this behaviour to continue.

The political event took place in Zabbar. Regarding the locality, the PN Leader said that all Nationalist local council candidates are aware of the realities and history of the village and aim to make it more accessible for others to learn about.

Moreover, there are also proposals to bring more respect to the locality, such as increased cleanliness within the village and better traffic management.

In conclusion, the PN Leader urged voters to support all PN candidates in both the EU elections and the local council elections, stating that a vote for any PL candidate is a vote for Robert Abela.