It is not acceptable for MPs from the Nationalist Party to mix various interests, including the money they earn from roles in which they are supposed to serve the national interest, the Labour Party said in a statement on Wednesday.
In this statement, PL was referring to a request PN had made to the Auditor General on Tuesday, in which the Opposition requested for the National Audit Office to investigate the process in which a €600 million contract was chosen for the Maghtab incinerator project.
Labour remarked that it would be good of Opposition Leader Bernard Grech to explain how MP Adrian Delia’s position is tenable when he is receiving money from a company with which the government could have one of the biggest contracts for the next twenty years.
“Is the Opposition Leader comfortable with having his predecessor in Cabinet with one hand in the government’s pot and another hand in the contractor’s pot?” PL asked.
PL said that it welcomes this investigation, as it would “serve as an opportunity for everyone to understand the seriousness with which the government has led this process”. It continued that if the NAO investigates all the facts, then no one will be able to continue being served with “half-truths and confused ideas in an attempt to discredit the government”.
It would be better for PN to ask the Auditor General to investigate Delia’s role in this process, PL commented, as he is defending a consortium that “could cost the country €200 million more” in comparison to the chosen offer. PL asked on whose behalf Delia is speaking whenever he makes remarks in public and on social media. It asked whether Delia is speaking on his behalf as a lawyer in order to advance his practice, whether is speaking on behalf of a contractor which has an offer of €200 million more, or whether he is speaking on behalf of PN.
PL concluded that if the country should opt for a system that would cost the taxpayer €200 million more, then it is for the authorities to see to that in complete independence and according to established processes.