VGH top brass knew of early election in November 2016

The top brass at VGH were already aware in November 2016 that Malta would be heading for an early election in 2017, the hospitals inquiry reveals. 

It was Keith Schembri who spilled the beans to Ram Tumuluri over concerns that VGH was heading into a clash with the Medical Association of Malta (MAM). 

The information comes from an email dated 26 November that then-CEO Armin Ernst sent to VGH’s largest silent shareholder Shaukat Ali. Ernst was expressing concerns on the management of VGH. 

Ernst told Ali about Tumuluri’s request that a “strong statement” to MAM be “put on hold” at the last minute. The reason was that “Keith” called Tumuluri and told him he needed to have a conversation about the “election campaign for next year and how our statements fit into it”. 

This revelation is yet another confirmation of what Daphne Caruana Galizia murder suspect Yorgen Fenech had said that he knew sometime in December of 2016 that the election would happen in 2017. 

When testifying in the Daphne Caruana Galizia public inquiry, Keith Schembri had confirmed that the PL started planning for an early election around February or March of 2017. 

He had said polls were showing the PL would storm to victory if a snap election were held. 

However, Ernst’s email suggests that the idea of an early election in 2017 had started germinating well before. 

In the first six months of 2017, Malta held the EU presidency and made a success of it. 

However, on Worker’s Day Muscat announced the election, linking the announcement to the instability caused by the allegation made by Caruana Galizia that his wife Michelle Muscat owned the secretive company Egrant. An inquiry found no evidence linking the Muscats to Egrant. 

The election was held on 3 June and the PL won a second consecutive term in government by a resounding majority.