Umbraged Azzopardi hits back at Grech comment on political ‘expiry date’

A clear rift has emerged between Opposition leader Bernard Grech and the former MP Jason Azzopardi, who yesterday hit back with a barb on social media after Grech suggested Azzopardi’s political journey had reached its own expiry date.

Grech said he recognised all the work done by Jason Azzopardi, who as a lawyer to the Caruana Galizia family was an avowed anti-corruption crusader within the PN. But he said every politician had to accept that their political journey had an expiry date.

Azzopardi failed to get elected on his home constituency in the fourth district, as well as on the ninth district which he contested for the first time, where he was pipped by young candidates in the casual elections.

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But speaking to Andrew Azzopardi on Radio 103 on Friday, Grech “categorically” denied that the party had worked against the campaign of former PN MP Jason Azzopardi, saying that it was up to the electorate to decide when one’s political journey came to an end.

“Everyone has to understand that one’s political journey has an expiry date. Mine will come too and when it does I will be accepting it and move on,” Grech said.

Azzopardi was combative in his reaction on Facebook: “It seems those who read the expiry dates of others often forget their own shelf-life,” he said in a clear reference to Grech.”

He then upped the ante with another statement, claiming he had stopped a donation to the party from somebody seeking a presidential pardon for a relative.

“It’s easy inventing an expiry date. Maybe that was because I was an obstacle to a donation from someone who wanted a presidential pardon for their relative, right?” he said. Azzopardi did not reply to calls from MaltaToday to explain the incident.