PM reiterates call for information on oil kickbacks scandal
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi promises to get to the bottom of the oil corruption scandal.
31 January 2013, 12:00am
Jacob Borg
Jacob Borg
2 min read
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi
Following a veil of silence after the initial revelation of irregularities in Enemalta oil purchases, the PN is finally openly discussing the matter at its partisan activities.
"I reiterate my appeal for anyone with information relating to this case to come forward. There is no need to reconvene parliament and push through a whistleblower act. If anyone has evidence in relation to this particular case, I shall recommend to the President of Malta that he offers them the necessary protection to testify. This method is faster than reconvening parliament," Gonzi said.
Quizzed on ways that a new PN administration would fight the institutionalisation of corruption, Gonzi responded, "The PN has taken the fight against corruption seriously. It is the PN that has created all the necessary institutions that are geared towards combating corruption and hauling the perpetrators to the courts."
"Whenever a PN government has caught whiff of corruption, it has always been stamped out, as demonstrated in the cases of the chief justice and VAT graft."
"We have not heard the last of this story. The report published by a newspaper (MaltaToday) is being investigated by the police. The same police that used tear gas against us under a Labour government can now be trusted with such investigations."
At this point Gonzi again repeated his call for anyone with information on the case to come forward.
On the PN's electoral programme, Gonzi questioned how PL candidates can stand on the Party ticket without even knowing what values they are representing.
"Simon Busuttil and Paul Borg Olivier have been instrumental in moving the Party closer to civil society. People mocked us, but we have delivered an electoral programme and the PL has yet to present anything," Gonzi said.
"The PL's own candidates do not know what they are standing for."
The familiar war cry of job creation was also heard.
"The ultimate indicator of success is economic well being and job creation. If the PL's figure of only 7,000 jobs having been created were to be believed, then all of the graduates over recent years would all be unemployed," Gonzi said.
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taghmel bhal ta zeppi il hafi. kellek tmin snin biex taghmel dak li suppost kellek taghmel, mela fejn huma il par idejn sodi, jew tuzghom ma xi hadd tan nuna.LI KIEN BAQA
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Am I hearing things....... Is Dr. Gonzi serious or in panic? So he supports to the hilt useless PN .mp`s (this is Dr. Gonzi discreet comments to the United States Ambassador)and now expects serious men with information to approach him.I am sore that if he get`s re-elected these "naive" persons will be crucified
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As if anyone would trust Gonzi after all these years spewing lies and failing to honour promises and pledges. All he has to do to be credible is to follow Frank Portelli's advice and reconvene Parliament and pass a Whistleblower Act that enables the investigation of past frauds.
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Now we await Frank Portelli and Fraco Debono to come forward with all the evidence which they claim they have in their hands! Issa z-zejt jibda tiela' f'wicc l-ilma. Nisperaw li issa Dr Portelli li ma tibqax b'halqek maghluq u dak li tghid li taf tohorgu
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The officers who were in charge of the police when tear gas was used were given promotions by the PN when it was in government. There was always the suspicion that these officers were agents provocateurs.
Secondly, pardons were always given the the Nationalist Government with a view to cover its tracks. Remember Queiroz, the Brasilian who was jailed in Malta for drug trafficking and then given a pardon by the PN Government on the false pretext that he was suffering from Hepataitis. Regarding the enactment of the Whistleblower act, the PM is now saying that he will it bring into force in the first week of the new legislature when he had five whole years to do this and failed to act. So much for Gonzi's credibility.
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Darba kien hemm wieħed li lili kien qalli li ser jinzel fil-fond fuq allegazzjonijiet li jiena kont għamilt , u sa issa milli jidher jew weħel fil-ħama jew għereq għax ma smajt xejn mingħandu . Nispera li il-Prim Ministru ma jiġrilux l-istess bħall dan . Once there was a person who told me that he was going down to the bottom of a case when I made serious allegations , but I think that he either stuck in the sludge or drowned because I haven't heard from him since then . I hope that the Prim Minister will not go through something similar .
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If "the PN has created all the necessary institutions that are geared towards combating corruption and hauling the perpetrators" as the PM says, why was it that in nearly a decade such worrying corruption was not detacted by these institutions?
Had it not been for a local newspaper the perpetrators would still be out at large.
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If "the PN has created all the necessary institutions that are geared towards combating corruption and hauling the perpetrators" as the PM says, why was it that in nearly a decade such worrying corruption was not detacted by these institutions?
Had it not been for a local newspaper the perpetrators would still be out at large.
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If "the PN has created all the necessary institutions that are geared towards combating corruption and hauling the perpetrators" as the PM says, why was it that in nearly a decade such worrying corruption was not detacted by these institutions?
Had it not been for a local newspaper the perpetrators would still be out at large.
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Is this man for real? He is expecting somebody to go whisper obscenities in his ear about individuals who he was lauding just the day before. Who in his right mind would dare to do that? Let us not forget that the person who had the tapes that hint at the fact that the minister might have had a finger in the pie has had his life threatened twice. A weapon stolen from the court"s strong room was used in one of the attempts. And there we were - thinking the Mafia operated to the north of the Maltese islands.
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Gonzi has lost it BIG TIME. He is not longer in control of what he says. He is irrational, illogical and absurd in his statements. The guy needa a break BIG TIME. Let us all do him a big favour and send him and his "clique of evil" to the opposition benches and possibly retirement.
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Everyone knows that Gonzi wants anything except getting to the bottom of the matter before the election, so enough said about that. However his statements about job creation confirm that he refers to any job where a person replaces someone who has retired as a new job. And what about PL candidates not knowing what they are standing for? As usual the further the item is from the truth the more loudly it is stated by the caretaker PM. Everybody knows what voting for the PL means, and the main points of the manifesto have been known since the convention in September. it is with the PN who came up with a manifesto glaringly full of U-turns, a manifesto clearly copied from the PL manifesto statements made by Joseph Muscat and from ideas that came up in the convention, it is here that no one really knows what one is voting for. Well, maybe they know; arrogance, inefficiency and incompetence.
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Can Lawrence Gonzi tell us who he wants to protect about this presidential pardon? Quite curious to come up with such a statement knowing that he did not encourage the Whistle Blower Act.
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You are fatally mistaken,
PL candidates know fully well the values they are representing. Rven I do.
National unity and cooperation with anyone willing to work for the common good, so we Maltese feel we have a government whose many interest and scope is the welfare of its own people. The fight against institutionalised corruption. Equal opportunities, a healthier environment. Civil liberties for all including minorities., to elect a government that does not treat us as idiots and respects us.To work to be the best in Europe....
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and it the fault of Joe Muscat....too. Give us a break.
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YES GONZI AND HIS CABINET ARE PERFECTLY IN TUNE WITH OFFERING PRESIDENTIAL PARDONS EVEN WHEN CONVICTED CRIMINALS HAVE BEEN FOUND GUILTY IN OUR COURTS. THE ONE ABSOLUTE CREDENTIAL THAT SUCH A PERSON MUST HAVE IS THAT HE MUST BE ONE OF THE CLIQUE. PERSONS WHO HAVE RECEIVED PERMANENT INTERDICTIONS FOR CORRUPTION BY THE COURTS HAVE BEEN SECRETLY PARDONED ON RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE CABINET. SUCH IS THE STATE OF CORRUPTION THAT GONZIPN HAS STOOPED TOO. NOT ONLY WOULD THEY OFFER A PRESIDENTIAL PARDON TO THOSE THAT COME FORWARD - LIKE ZEPPI IL-HAFI - ONLY HE DID NOT STATE THE TRUTH IN THE TRIALS BY JURY THAT ENSURED, BUT ALSO GAVE PRESIDENTIAL PARDONS TO THOSE FOUND GUILTY BY THE COURTS. YES OF COURSE IT IS MUCH EASIER TO GET PRESIDENTIAL PARDONS FOR THE GONZIPN CLIQUE.
Rita Pizzuto •
Poor Goz, he has completely lost it!
He is so out of his league that he does not even acknowledge the fact that the more he talks - it seems without even thinking - gets him embroiled in controversy. He is all the time being humiliated by his own colleagues and his spur of the moment comments.
