Labour MEP candidates call on Standards Commissioner to investigate Opposition leader

Labour MEP candidates Daniel Attard and Marija Sara Vella Gafà have urged the Commissioner for Standards to investigate Opposition Leader Bernard Grech.

Both candidates accuse Grech of misleading the media and the public.

“The Leader of the Opposition is responsible for violating party funding laws. As you are aware, the Leader of the Opposition also serves as the Leader of the Nationalist Party and a Member of Parliament. In each of these roles, he is expected to take all necessary actions to uphold political correctness and the rule of law,” stated a letter sent by the candidates.

The letter further asserts that Grech was caught lying and misleading the media, and subsequently the public, during an interview in September 2023 when he claimed that the PN accounts had all been published.

Referring to a court hearing involving the Electoral Commission, the candidates, Attard and Vella Gafà, disclosed that over the past two years, the Nationalist Party had been formally warned five times to submit its accounts. Despite these warnings, it continued to "flagrantly break the law with a sense of impunity."

“Therefore, Bernard Grech, Leader of the Opposition, is violating party financing laws, blatantly disregarding warnings from the Electoral Commission, and undermining the democratic process by denying people the necessary scrutiny of a Party that aspires to be an alternative Government. This arrogant behavior by the Leader of the Opposition, who considers himself above the law, is condemnable in every sense,” added the letter.

The letter says that the standards office should take this report seriously and investigate the "abusive behavior" of the Leader of the Opposition, which is in "clear violation of the law and the code of ethics." It also urges the office to take appropriate action in response to the circumstances.