Muscat on the offensive: ‘Gonzi endorsing Gatt’s version of events’

Labour leader Joseph Muscat has kept up his attack on Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, accusing him of endorsing transport minister Austin Gatt's version of events on his meetings with oil trader George Farrugia.

Farrugia, the director of Aikon Ltd and an agent for commodities firm Trafigura and Total, has been granted a presidential pardon to turn State's witness and reveal how commissions or kickbacks were paid to Enemalta officials for the supply of oil to the state utility.

Trafigura is believed to have been aware of meetings Farrugia held with Austin Gatt, who was responsible for Enemalta at the time kickbacks were paid for the supply of oil, according to email correspondence between Farrugia and Trafigura representatives.

Gatt, who denied having met Farrugia and sued MaltaToday for libel when this newspaper reported that the minister met the oil trader, has now claimed that his meetings with Farrugia did not involve talks on the supply of oil.

"I reiterate that I never, ever, discussed the business of oil tenders by Enemalta with George Farrugia or had any conversation with him that remotely touched on such subjects. The email referred to by Dr Muscat does not say or imply otherwise," Gatt said yesterday evening.

But Muscat today said that the Prime Minister, who granted the presidential pardon during a late-night Cabinet meeting on Friday, had endorsed Gatt's version of events.

"The prime minister is now responsible... instead of keeping his distance, Gonzi has made himself judge and jury," Muscat said of Gonzi's statements that Gatt should not take any political responsibility before the conclusion of police investigations into the alleged kickbacks.

"Gatt's initial statement had led people to believe the meetings with Farrugia were constituency meetings, but the emails published in the Sunday Times raise different questions."

Muscat has called on both Gonzi and Austin Gatt to "clear the air" on the revelations that Farrugia was asked Trafigura how his meetings with "the minister" went.

"I don't think its because they are interested in how are things going in Valletta and Floriana," Muscat said.

The Labour leader also noted that other correspondence makes reference to meetings between Farrugia and former Enemalta chairman Tancred Tabone "to discuss what was talked about with A.G."

"I will not speculate who this A.G. is," Muscat said, while the audience audibly voiced its scepticism, also noting that the correspondence revealed by the Sunday Times makes reference to someone named 'Aust'.

"Publicly, Gatt played down the sort of meetings he might have had with this person [Farrugia]. And now, this correspondence emerged," Muscat said, insisting that the situation needs to be addressed politically without impinging on the ongoing police investigation into alleged corruption practices.

"This is a political issue which has nothing to do with the police investigation. It is an issue that should be cleared, and an unhappy state of affairs which could have been avoided with introduction of a Whistleblowers' Act."