The Nationalist Party said Monday that the Court had confirmed that the State Advocate has every right to initiate legal proceedings to recover public funds without needing direction from anyone, including the Prime Minister.

It was replying to a government statement following a Court of Appeals judgment that the State Advocate does have the power to act independently of any government direction to recover funds regarding the fraudulent hospitals concession.

"Not only did Robert Abela fail to file the case himself to recover public funds, but he also opposed the State Advocate initiating such proceedings. In fact, Abela went to Court to try and block the case opened by the PN, ensuring the Government could not stop the State Advocate from acting independently," the PN said.

"But today, the Court confirmed that the State Advocate can proceed without waiting for direction from Robert Abela," the party added.

Where others sought to protect fraudsters, the courts had delivered another victory for the people, following a struggle that should never have been necessary, the PN said.

"This fight became necessary because the Labour Government defrauded the people by selling the hospitals. It had to continue because, even after defrauding the people, the Labour Government kept trying to protect fraudsters instead of doing everything possible to recover the stolen public funds," the PN said.

The party said that day after day, "Robert Abela continues to protect those who steal from and defraud the people, rather than standing with the people." The party said that his determination to "shield fraudsters" was so evident that after Monday's court ruling, "Robert Abela tried to mislead the public through a statement implying the court had somehow ruled in his favour.""Robert Abela always wants to have his way, and when he doesn't, he tries to buy time and deceive the people into thinking he's the one who won," the party said.

The party said it would continue fighting for the people against "the fraud of Robert Abela's government" and said that this was also why the Maltese people would gather in Valletta in protest later in the day - because they are fed up with Robert Abela's government "of fraud and fraud alone."