Another 'Black Monday' entered our political timeline as a day when truth stood naked, justice cried out, and power mocked both. The Vitals saga, already steeped in scandal, reached a new low. The government celebrated a defeat, claimed victory where humiliation stared back, and treated the people as fools. Malta deserves far better than this deceitful theatre.

The Auditor General's May 2023 report on the Vitals deal tore away every excuse and exposed every lie. He described an "unorthodox dynamic...between the Prime Minister and the Minister for Tourism, to the detriment of the Minister for Health." That bizarre power relationship created a window of vulnerability that Steward Healthcare (SHC) seized to exploit the State.

Steward secured an astonishing guarantee: Malta would still pay €100 million if the courts annulled the concession - even if Steward or Vitals caused that annulment through failure, deceit, or incompetence. Taxpayers became the insurance policy for a private company's misconduct. Between June 2016 and the end of 2021, the government poured €456 million into this scheme. Apart from Barts Medical School and a handful of cosmetic efforts, Steward delivered nothing. No new hospital transformation and no promised medical revolution. Just empty promises, empty buildings, and empty accountability. Zero milestones, zero transparency and zero shame.

Then on 24 February 2023 came the much-awaited judgment. On 24 February 2023, the court annulled the deal and condemned "fraudulent and, possibly, criminal behaviour by Steward...as well as Vitals...and its investors". Fraud did not happen once or twice; it happened throughout the concession - from start to finish.

On 23 October 2023, the Constitutional Court confirmed that this scandal did not involve a gullible government and a crafty private operator. It involved collusion - a carefully engineered partnership between high-ranking government officials and private actors who moved with impunity. This conspiracy operated at the highest levels of power, not in the shadows but in the corridors of government.

Then, on 6 May 2024, justice sped up. Nineteen individuals - including former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat - stood accused of major criminal charges relating to this contract. 

On 7 May, former Health Minister Chris Fearne and other officials followed. 

A week later, on May 11, Steward sought bankruptcy protection in the US. Simultaneously, the US Senate launched an investigation into the company's practices. 

On 18 September 2025, former Steward Malta CEO Armin Ernst stood before Magistrate Montebello, facing charges of money laundering, conspiracy, bribery, trading in influence, and misappropriation. The facts pile up like rubble after an explosion. And every piece of rubble points to wrongdoing.

These facts do not come from the PN. They do not come from partisan imaginations. Their origins are in institutions, courtrooms, official documents, and decisions. They tell one undeniable truth: Joseph Muscat and Robert Abela led governments that colluded with Vitals and Steward and betrayed the Maltese people.

The Court of Appeal summed it up precisely: those entrusted with defending Malta chose to defend the contract and its operators instead. They did not shield the public, but they shielded the fraud.

So what should a serious government do after such damning rulings? Recover every stolen cent and force those responsible to face justice. Confront corruption while defending the taxpayer and protecting the dignity of the Republic.

Robert Abela did the opposite as he clasped hands with the very company our courts described as fraudulent and entered a secret arbitration process abroad. Unfortunately, he refused to disclose what claims he submitted. He blocked scrutiny, and he buried transparency. He copied the same secret-deal blueprint that had allowed Vitals to creep into Malta behind closed doors in the first place.

And then came Black Monday - a day of political theatre and national disgrace.

Robert Abela marched out and proclaimed victory. He smiled, celebrated, and asked the nation to applaud. He sounded like Neville Chamberlain waving a piece of paper and promising "peace in our time," except this time the paper did not protect peace - it protected corruption. The Prime Minister waved a worthless arbitration result and asked a betrayed public to cheer.

What do we celebrate? The ruling that says Malta owes Steward another €5 million - on top of the nearly €900 million already gone? Celebrate surrender dressed up as triumph? Celebrate when a prime minister stood on the ruins of public trust and called it progress?

This outcome does not defend Malta. It protects Joseph Muscat, the mastermind behind this rotten scheme. It confirms what many already fear: Robert Abela kneels to the same adviser who once controlled Castille. He chose loyalty to Muscat over loyalty to Malta.

On Monday, Robert Abela did not defeat the PN. He did not defeat critics but, worse, he defeated Malta. He handed victory to corruption and betrayed taxpayers, insulted justice, and dragged the Prime Minister's office through the mud. He dishonoured the Auditor General's work and disrespected the rulings of our courts.

Meanwhile, the St Luke's building still sits abandoned and rotting. The Karen Grech hospital still waits for the promised investment. Gozo still dreams about a hospital we already paid for. The betrayal continues daily, brick by brick, silence by silence, smirk by smirk.

Now that the ICC documents have surfaced, the truth stands exposed. I challenge the Prime Minister to show the public how he supposedly fought for Malta. Instead of fighting for the taxpayer, he fought to smear me. Instead of defending the country, he defended himself - and those charged with corruption. His actions reveal fear, not strength. Cowardice, not leadership; cover-up, not justice.

This Black Monday did bring some clarity as it showed a prime minister who protects his predecessor, not his people. It revealed a government terrified of the truth and allergic to accountability. And it proved that corruption does not simply happen - corruption survives because those in power feed it, nurture it, and protect it at all costs.

Malta deserves answers, and Malta deserves honesty. Malta deserves leaders who fight for the common good, not for the architects of the biggest betrayal in our modern history. The country stands at a crossroads. We either demand accountability now, or corruption wins forever.

I refuse to let corruption win. Malta refuses to let corruption win. Our country deserves better. We all do. 

Adrian Delia is Nationalist Party spokesman on finance