JPO claims RCC colluded with 1996-1998 Labour administration
In yet another move that created more trouble for the Nationalist Party, MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando called for the expulsion of EU ambassador Richard Cachia Caruana from the PN, claiming, among other things, that he colluded with high-ranking members of the 1996-1998 Labour administration led by Alfred Sant. Dr Pullicino Orlando voted with the Opposition on a motion censuring Malta’s EU Ambassador Richard Cachia Caruana and calling for his resignation last week. Another Nationalist backbencher, Jesmond Mugliett, abstained, and the following day the PN executive condemned him, Dr Pullicino Orlando and MP Franco Debono for the way they had voted on the motions censuring Mr Cachia Caruana and former Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici. Dr Pullicino Orlando claimed there were at least 10 other government MPs who would have liked to vote with the opposition on the motion censuring Mr Cachia Caruana. However, in parliament on Monday night, three PN MPs denied this charge and challenged Dr Pullicino Orlando to ‘name and shame’. The letter was addressed to Marthese Portelli, the president of the PN’s executive committee, and sent to her email address as well as to all the newsrooms. The MP gave three reasons as to why he was calling on the executive “to consider the expulsion” of Mr Cachia Caruana, saying that he would be amplifying on the three points in an interview with The Times “later today” (yesterday). This newspaper attempted to get in touch with the Nationalist MP, but he never returned the calls or answered the messages that were sent via email and SMS.(independent.com.mt) Is it not possible to have a calm and stable government in Malta?
MOC general secretary again denies wrongdoing
Malta Olympic Committee general secretary Joe Cassar insisted again today he was not involved in any illegal resale of tickets for the Olympic Games. The Sunday Times of London carried out an undercover investigation recently into the alleged illegal resale of tickets for the Games on the international market. Although the Malta Olympic Committee, which Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco chairs, was not among the bodies accused of illegal sales, the newspaper filmed Mr Cassar, in the presence of the judge, telling two reporters posing as envoys of a Middle Eastern ticket tout how high mark-ups on the tickets, above the allowed threshold, could be "camouflaged" through "subtle" marketing techniques. Mr Justice Farrugia Sacco has denied any wrongdoing. In a statement written through his lawyers, Mr Cassar gave an overview of the events in a bid to clear his name. Mr Cassar said that he immediately informed the "representatives" that the MOC did not have any tickets relating to the Olympics and referred them to the official authorised ticket reseller (ATR) for Malta for the said games. He accepted to help the representatives by passing on any specific requests to other ATRs so as to try and obtain the required tickets, without infringing rules. The "representatives" informed the MOC that they were ready to pay £60,000 to act as the official ATR for the Winter Olympic Games to be held in Sochi. The MOC had already received offers of smaller amounts and, therefore, the offer in question was interesting.(timesofmalta.com.mt) Tickets for the Olympics are still the subject of fraud.
Debono 'sure' opponents of his possible election candidature would be a 'minority'
A rift between Nationalist MPs Franco Debono and Beppe Fenech Adami continued to widen today, with the former accusing the latter of 'harassing' him for years. Dr Debono said he was not surprised that Dr Fenech Adami had declared in an interview to blogger Andrew Azzopardi that he would vote against him if the PN Executive was to consider whether or not he should be an election candidate. "I am sure he will be in a minority in the Executive," Dr Debono said. "This contrasts sharply with conciliatory statements in my regard by, among others Francis Zammit Dimech, Mario de Marco, David Agius and Edwin Vassallo and Chris Said statement in my regard." Franco Debono. "Dr Fenech Adami has been harassing me for years, for reasons that I cannot understand or explain, unless this was a sentiment of jealousy to my achievements," the criminal lawyer said. He said that way back in 2009, when he had no differences with the PN and had not criticised it in public, Dr Fenech Adami had, according to l-orizzont, been behind manoeuvres to oust him from parliament at the next election and replace him by Herman Schiavone. At the time he had initially not believed the report, he said. But later it transpired that Mr Schiavone had made an unfounded and false claim against him to Edgar Galea Curmi (head of the Prime Minister's secretariat) Dr Debono recalled.(timesofmalta.com) It sounds logical.