[LIVE] Richard Cachia Caruana says he learnt of PfP reactivation after 2008 re-election

Welcome to MaltaToday's live blog for the Foreign and European Affairs Committee hearing on Malta's reactivation of the Partnerhip for Peace agreement, which for the third time convenes Permanent Represetative to the EU Richard Cachia Caruana, as we rush headlong into yet another blow-by-blow account of political minutiae. REFRESH here.

BACKGROUND Labour's imperfect withdrawal from PfP and Cachia Caruana's role in reactivating PfP

REPORT Cachia Caruana umbraged at Labour motion plus SLIDESHOW

This live-blog has ended.

21:03 The committee has objected to the summoning of Commissioner John Dalli to the committee.

20:58 It appears there is some objection from chairman Francis Zammit Dimech to Labour MP's Leo Brincat demand that former foreign minister (today Commissioner) John Dalli is summoned, and not other foreign ministers (Michael Frendo and Tonio Borg, who is an ex ufficio member of the committee). Dalli was foreign minister for a few months in 2004 before his resignation.

20:51 And in other accusations... Borg now tells Vella that he never accepted any condition to have a SOFA agreement with the US government that would give immunity to US personnel for offences caused on Maltese soil. This fact was raised by George Vella as an example of sensitive issues that are discussed without any consultation.

20:47 Borg is challenging Labour to amend its motion, addressing their accusation today that the ratification of the PfP was illegal, because he is arguing that the Opposition's original accusation that Cachia Caruana had 'conspired' with the US government over the reactivation of PfP, had been disproven.

20:41 Questions for Cachia Caruana have finished, and the perm rep has left the Commitee room. At this point, deputy PM Tonio Borg is attacking the validity of the Labour motion, questioning the timing of the motion which comes a full year after the publication of the Wikileaks cables, and the declaration by the Attorney General that the reactivation of the PfP did not require any ratification by the House.

20:35 Cachia Caruana says he does not remember discussing any intention to rejoin PfP, and that the party at the time of the elections was preoccupied with the fact that it was 10 points behind Labour in the run-up to the 2008 elections.

20:30 Some background here: just after the PN's re-election in March 2008, Lawrence Gonzi and Tonio Borg were in Brussels with Cachia Caruana, to reactivate the PfP agreement. This had not been pre-announced. Here is the original US embassy cable published by Wikileaks.

20:28 "I didn't know the Prime Minister had told the US ambassador he intended to take Malta into PfP."

20:26 Cachia Caruana has just declared that he got to know of the decision to revive Malta's PfP after the PN won the 2008 elections, when Bonnici raised the fact that the US embassy cables published by Wikileaks had reported Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi in a meeting with US ambassador Molly Bordonaro in February 2008, telling her the government intended to rejoin PfP. The Nationalist MPs here interject quite loudly trying to drown out Bonnici's questions.

20:22 Cachia Caruana says the government was ready to acknowledge the principles in the PfP framework document, but anything beyond that, i.e. the obligations of the PfP framework document, would not be accepted. He is referring to the letter sent to Nato and the EU council, as part of the proposal to have Malta join the stream of member states with access to classified Nato documents.

20:18 Cachia Caruana is asked by Bonnici why felt he had to point out it was negative to revive the PfP agreement, fully aware that this line was contrary to government policy. Cachia Caruana says government policy at the time was not to join PfP and that choosing an opposite line of action would have deviated from this position.

20:12 Labour MP Owen Bonnici asking questions, pointing out Cachia Caruana was aware that Malta might have to reactivate its PfP participation, evident in a memo he sent to the Prime Minister where he talks of the disadvantage of Malta's line of action was declaring that Malta was a subscribing party to the principles of the PfP.

20:04 Nationalist MP Beppe Fenech Adami asks Cachia Caruana how important was Malta's wish to have access to classifed EU-Nato documents; and here Richard Cachia Caruana explains once again the circumstances of Malta's and Cyprus's position, being non-Nato members, as well as the fact that the Maltese government could not attend discussions that were also seeing EU member states take decisions on political and security matters that were binding on Malta. "We had to accept decisions, the implications of which affected us, for example expenses related to military activities in Bosnia, without Malta ever seeing the documents pertaining to such a decision. So the importance for the government was not just related to being present for the discussion, but that it was unacceptable that we were not part of the decisions being made there."

19:57 Busuttil's questions seem to hint that it was the window of opportunity provided by the dissolution of parliament during the 2008 general elections, that allowed the government to revive PfP.

19:54 Cachia Caruana says the document from the Maltese government, a letter to Nato and the Council declaring that Malta merely suspended participation in PfP, rather than terminating its membership, was a matter decided by the government in which he had no say.

19:52 Richard Cachia Caruana says any questions as to whether Malta's decison to revive the PfP was taken after 2008 (the immediate aftermath of the 2008 elections), the perm rep says the question should be addressed to the foreign minister.

19:51 "The government's position was to stick to the proposal to use the security of documents right up until the end of the legislature in 2008."

19:47 After 2005, it appears that Malta's proposal to use its security of documents was not accepted. Busuttil now is asking Cachia Caruana whether, after 2005, the only alternative left for the Maltese government was to reactivate the PfP agreement.

19:45 Asked about claims in the US embassy cable about "seeking Washington guidance", Cachia Caruana denies that he was the subject of this reference, and that he was in any way seeking guidance from the US government as to the line of action Malta would take over access to classifed Nato documents.

19:40 Cachia Caruana says there was a differing line between US officials in Nato, which opined that the proposal for a security of documents agreement would be highly unlikely, while the EU's Council secretariat insisted that Malta sticks to this line of action.

19:34 Cachia Caruana insists that the cable only contains "the impressions" of the US embassy staff that penned the cables in the first place, pointing out that George Vella, in another cable, was referred to incorrectly as Opposition leader.

19:31 Zammit Dimech in an impatient outburst over Busuttil's line of questioning, which prima facie does not appear to be entirely out of order. Zammit Dimech hollers, saying the Opposition is asking the same question over and over again. Busuttil had asked Cachia Caruana why he did not feel the need to raise the subject of the PfP and security agreement discussions with the US mission during his annual meetings with the foreign affairs committee.

19:29 Cachia Caruana: "I was not privy to any discussion that raised the issue of whether to bypass the House or not on PfP."

19:26 Busuttil asks Cachia Caruana whether he was aware that the 'Maltese proposal' would have bypassed the House's approval for reactivating PfP. Cachia Caruana says he was surprised that Labour did not raise any questions about "a widely reported matter" over Malta's lack of access to the confidential Nato documents. Busuttil parries: "As far as I know no newspaper is the official mouthpiece for the government, unless it's the Government Gazette."

19:19 Cachia Caruana insists that the Maltese government's stand at the time was not to join PfP. But Busuttil is asking how McKinley could have known that the Maltese government was not enthusiastic about entering the political fray with such a divisive issue as PfP. Cachia Caruana insists "there was never any discussion" and here Busuttil stumps the ambassador, momentarily: "How do you know your staff did not raise this matter if you were not present for the meeting." Five seconds of dead air. "Because I trust my staff," Cachia Caruana replies. Busuttil grins.

19:18 Busuttil is pushing the line that the US staff could only have known about particular aspects of Malta's domestic politics from the perm rep's staff, but Zammit Dimech is raising an objection to his line of questioning and statements. Busuttil informs Zammit Dimech he was "courteous enough not to interrupt Cachia Caruana" throughout his deposition.

19:15 "I am certain my staff did not raise these matters with the American staff, but only Major Xuereb can respond to this question..."

19:13 Cachia Caruana, who says he was not present for the first meeting, says his staff never raised the issue of Malta's so called 50-50 division over the issue of rejoining PfP - a particular insight in the Wikileaks cables delivered by deputy chief of mission McKinley. Here Zammit Dimech interjects to tell Busuttil, a lawyer by profession (like FZD) to leave hypothesis and suggestion for the debate in the plenary.

19:08 Cachia Caruana says the security agreement 'procedural bandaid' was one of the ideas being floated about inside the Maltese government, but said the Americans formally raised the proposal with his embassy staff (namely, defence liaison Martin Xuereb). The idea, he says, was discussed in an informal setting. After this meeting, Cachia Caruana sent off a memo on the meeting. "The fact that the Americans were the most important players in Nato, it was interpreted that moving on these lines would have meant getting the backing of the United States."

19:07 Questions from Labour MP Luciano Busuttil about the initial meetings between Brussels perm rep staff and Nato officials.

19:05 Cachia Caruana says there was already discussion inside the Maltese government to discuss the matter of the security agreement signed in 1995 with Nato, in talks related to Malta's access to classifed Nato documents available only to EU member states that are Nato or PfP members.

19:01 Cachia Caruana refers to the obvious, pointing out the Wikileaks cable that details meetings held between the US mission to the EU, Nato officers, and his embassy staff. "I have nothing much to add to the statement I gave. I never requested guidance from Washington [as alleged in the cable authored by the US deputy chief of mission]" on the so called 'Maltese proposal' to request that Malta never withdrew unconditionally from the PfP back in 1996.

19:00 Nationalist MP Frans Agius asking Cachia Caruana what his opinion is of the source of Labour's motion and accusation that he sought to bypass the House on reactivating PfP.

18:59 And Vella manages to exasperate the committee: Cachia Caruana accepts to circulate his statement to the MPs, as read.

18:57 Zammit Dimech tells Vella that Cachia Caruana has every right to put up his own defence. Vella's retort: "You are not acting as a chairman, but as a judge." If you're not interested in procedure, this may take some time...

18:54 Leader of the House and deputy PM Tonio Borg and George Vella arguing between themselves over what's the right procedure or not. Chairman Francis Zammit Dimech not sounding very partial to Vella's protestations.

18:52 Cachia Caruana is making a summary of all he talked about in his first hearing, and right on cue George Vella has latched onto this and raised a point of procedure.

18:49 Cachia Caruana proceeds to start off with a statement. "The accusation advanced by the Opposition was that I betrayed my country by seeking a solution to Malta's situation in PfP to bypass parliamentary accountability... the only tentative to prove this allegation was the Wikileaks cable. During the past sessions, I answered to the questions about this cable, the cable of which does not substantiate the accusations made against me."

18:47 It looks like Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando is not yet present at the committee. In the meantime, Cachia Caruana has just taken his seat, armed with reams of paper.

18:46 Another issue raised by Brincat is the lack of correspondence between 2003 and 2008 on the subject of the PfP reactivation from the OPM, documents of which were requested by the Opposition.

18:43 Leo Brincat is raising the matter that Richard Cachia Caruana's job description should have been provided by himself personally, rather than having been forwarded to the committee by the Office of the Prime Minister. "I am not contesting the veracity of this job description."

18:40 Chairman Francis Zammit Dimech is tabling some documents, amongst them Richard Cachia Caruana's job description as permanent representative to the EU - something that Labour MP Leo Brincat had asked for in the last hearing.

18:36 Welcome to the seventh session of the foreign affairs committee and its dissection of the reactivation of Malta's PfP application. Next Monday, the House will hear the Opposition's motion proper which calls for the resignation of Malta' permanent representative to the EU, Richard Cachia Caruana. There's still a host of witnesses to be heard, but it's likely not everyone will be summoned due to time contraints.