The recent scandal involving Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri, former Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo and his wife Amanda Muscat is not an isolated case, but part of an 11-year chain of bad governance, Opposition Leader Bernard Grech said on Monday, addressing a protest outside of Parliament.

The protest was organised by the Nationalist Party, and protesters called for the removal Minister for Gozo and Planning, Clint Camilleri, who was involved in the scandal.

A report by the Standards Commissioner had found that Camilleri and former minister Clayton Bartolo had abused their power when Bartolo's girlfriend at the time, now his wife, Amanda Muscat was given a consultancy job which she had no qualifications for and did not do. The Commissioner found that Amanda Muscat was first promoted from being Bartolo's personal assistant to his consultant with an increased salary of almost €62,000 and, later, this was upped to €68,000 when she moved to Camilleri's ministry in 2021. The report found that Muscat did not do consultancy work. By and large she continued to work as Bartolo's private secretary, with a consultant's salary, even when she was employed with Camilleri.

Parliament's Standards Committee unanimously decided to adopt the conclusions of the Standards Commissioner's report which found that the two relevant Ministers had breached ethics. The Committee ordered MP Clayton Bartolo to make a personal apology in Parliament, but chose to simply reprimand Clint Camilleri as part of its sanctions. Bartolo has also resigned from the role as minister, however the Prime Minister said that this was tied to separate allegations, where Muscat is alleged to have received a €50,000 kickback from an MTA deal. The PN has continued calling for the resignation of Minister Clint Camilleri over the consultancy job.

"This is not an isolated case, it is another link in a chain of the theft of public funds, abuse of power, secrecy, clientelism, and protecting wrongdoing - a chain that has been ongoing for 11 years," Grech said about the consultancy scandal.

Grech said that the case of Amanda Muscat's €68,000 consultancy job scandalised the country that "encapsulated everything" from "abuse of power, clientelism, fraud, lack of ethics, lies and criminality that reached new levels."

He said that there remains virtually "no sector, no minister," that has been spared in this chain of scandals.

Grech repeated the call for the Minister of Gozo and Planning, Clint Camilleri, to be removed from his post. As Grech was telling the crowd that Camilleri's position is untenable, several protesters present agreed as they began chanting for the Minister to leave.

"I could list a hundred cases, a hundred links in this chain. But today, I will mention just ten to make you understand why we are asking you to continue strengthening us, so that the people will win."

He listed the ten: "They defrauded the vulnerable in a racket with fake certificates. They stole €400 million from our healthcare system and patients. They defrauded the country through a racket at the Identita Malta agency. They have been giving out lucrative contracts to individuals whose sole qualification is being part of the inner circle.  We had a Minister for Gozo, not the one we have today, giving a phantom job to her partner. We had another Gozo Minister who was caught with an artifact in his villa's garden, which is part of our national heritage. A corruption racket was exposed regarding driving license examinations. Another racket in police overtime and ticketing. A Labour MP, now re-admitted to the party, openly admits that in government, everyone is pigging out. They created an atmosphere in the country that led to the murder of a journalist."

He said that the government itself perverts the democratic system from the top. "This is the continuity that Robert Abela promised and fulfilled."

"This is why, often times, these new scandals do not shock the people; because we don't expect any better," Grech stated, "We are here because we've all had enough."

'Don't allow yourselves to remain silent any longer' - Grech urges people to speak up over scandals 

The Opposition leader spoke critically of the Prime Minister's leadership. He said that after committing another u-turn when he first accepted Clayton Bartolo's apology and then his resignation just a couple weeks later, it's only a matter of time till the Maltese and Gozitan people observe another u-turn later down the line.

"Robert Abela is a weak leader, like a wind vane, and a liar," Grech remarked.

During his speech, Grech said that on Monday morning - through the Court of Appeal's ruling that the State Advocate has the right to act independently to retrieve the €400 million worth of public funds from the Vitals-Steward hospitals deal - Malta won. He said that through saying this, Grech is reflecting a victory for all people, irrespective of their political beliefs and backgrounds, because "the €400 million belongs to everyone."

Grech said that there weren't just supporters of his Nationalist Party in the crowd present for this protest, but also disgruntled Labour Party (PL) supporters and other people who don't support either main party. He encouraged people to continue breaking silence amidst controversies occurring, and said that "this country can be reborn as people are saying it's time for a change."

"Remember that when you remain silent, you are telling decision-makers to continue as they are, so do not allow yourself to remain silent any longer," Grech said.

Malta won again - Delia

PN MP Adrian Delia also addressed the protest and said that with the court judgement on Monday, "Malta won again."

"Malta won not because it has the best government in the world, but because we have an Opposition that looks after the people's interests."

He spoke about the Vitals scandal, and said there was never a plan for millions of euros worth of investment in the hospitals. He said that the government fought tooth and nail "not for you, but for foreign fraudsters, to keep taking millions." He said it was a contract for 90 years for billions of euros and if it were up to the government, it would still be paying millions of the people's funds. The government, he said, didn't appeal that judgement "because its back was against the wall." He said that the foreign company appealed and that the Court of Appeal added "that the fraud was also by the highest exponents in government who were complicit."

"They told us they took Steward Health Care into arbitration. Don't believe them. After Steward lost the appeal, they took the government into arbitration and the government had to respond."

He said: "we want to bring back the €400 million."

Delia said the PN felt it had to go to court again and opened a case against the State Advocate, and the Prime Minister entered into the case, along with all of Cabinet. "The PN won the case in the Court of Appeal for the people, against the government and Cabinet. Obviously, this did not go down well for him. Not even a sorry did he say, worse than Clayton Bartolo."

The only ones who lost are "Abela and his friends."

The court's decision means that the State Advocate's decision can act independently in favour of the State, "against those who defrauded the people," Delia said.

Stef Formosa, a lecturer at MCAST, also addressed the crowd. She spoke about the situation at MCAST itself, saying that their collective agreement expired three years ago. "The situation the government threw us in is affecting everyone. It has an effect on the mental health of lecturers and students."

"Not only are you not giving us what we deserve, but you are playing with our mental health. We want to work, want to do our jobs, but you are not permitting it, and it is not us lecturers creating this precedent but you who are meant to be leading the country."

She said that for the government this isn't a priority.

She said that the government ignoring the rights of the lecturers and dragging its feet on collective agreement negotiations.