Abela tells MEPs of 'ferociously partisan' Maltese elections

Distancing himself from the Labour Party in 1989, when he was expelled after denouncing corruption within the party, was one of the most important decisions Toni Abela had to take in his professional life.

Abela resigned from post of party president along with the then parliamentary whip, Wenzu Mintoff.

“I felt that my integrity and political principles would have been compromised if I stayed on. [We] resigned from the post after having made an appeal for party reform,” Abela told MEPs ahead of a hearing for his appointment to the European Court of Auditors.

Their appeal had however fallen on deaf ears. “By taking this decision, I risked jeopardising my profession.”

After leaving the Labour Party, Abela went on to become one of the co-founders of Alternattiva Demokratika, along with Mintoff, Saviour Balzan, Joe Azzopardi, Arnold Cassola, Harry Vassallo, Mario Mallia and Stephen Cachia.

Abela was replying to a written questionnaire submitted by the European Parliament’s Budgetary Control Committee. The EP report was published online as Abela prepares to be grilled over his nomination to the European Court of Auditors.

Asked what were the most important decisions in his professional life, Abela also recalled his decision to run for the deputy leadership of the Labour Party in 2008.

“The post requires long hours of work and great stress, especially when elections are near. In Malta elections are ferociously partisan. I managed to fully fulfil the duties of this post and exercising my profession at the same time. I have always been able to earn my living from the legal profession.”

As deputy leader, Abela didn’t receive any remuneration.

Asked which of his previous professional positions was a result of a political nomination, Abela replied that, between 1996 and 1999, he was a member of the Employment Commission.

“Presently I am also an adviser to the Prime Minister on social issues,” he said.

In replies ranging from his career to personal achievements, Abela made reference to months spent doing voluntary work in Calcutta, India, in 1982.