If he truly wants to be credible that Malta comes first for him, Prime Minister Robert Abela should ensure that the fines which the Court ordered the State to pay as compensation for the occupation of properties used as Labour clubs are paid by the Labour Party itself and not from the taxes of the Maltese worker, the Nationalist Party said Wednesday.
The Court has just confirmed a ruling delivered more than three years ago which found that the Labour Party had breached the rights of the owners of a property on a main road in Santa Venera when it occupied it for more than 40 years. Throughout all these years, the Labour Party was paying just €382 a year.
Two years ago, the Labour Party had been ordered to vacate this property, but it appealed the ruling in order to continue using the property as if it were its own.
Today the Court confirmed the original ruling and ordered Labour to vacate the premises within 40 days.
This is only one of a series of injustices suffered by a number of families and private citizens whose properties were taken and used as Labour clubs, including in Birżebbuġa, Pietà, Lija, Żurrieq, Qormi and Paola, the PN said.
Now the owners of these properties are being forced into lengthy court cases in order to perhaps reclaim what is rightfully theirs under the law.
These owners suffered great injustices for decades when Labour decided to take what belonged to them and occupy it for more than 40 years, the PN added. Now it will be the Maltese people who will suffer another injustice when they will have to pay from their own pocket the fines imposed by the Court because Labour seized people's properties and turned them into its own clubs.
If he wants to be credible and believed that this is a government which believes in justice and in the national interest, Robert Abela should immediately order the Labour Party to pay for the injustices it committed, instead of placing the burden of these fines, which have now risen to more than €1.6 million, on Maltese families, the PN said.
In reply, the Labour Party reiterated it respects Court decisions, as it has always done, including the case concerning the Santa Venera Labour Centre.
It is worth recalling that one of the first proposals made by the current Leader of the Nationalist Party upon taking office was to use public funds to finance the PN's debt, the PL said. Once again, the Nationalist Party was quick to react as conveniently it is ignoring the need for serious self-reflection. The PN lacks credibility on matters of internal financial governance, the PL said.