John Dalli accuses Brussels and GonziPN of collusion in the ‘set-up’

In his first comment to PBS since his return from abroad, the former health commissioner told Dissett that he was now convinced more than ever that the whole matter was a set-up.

"I never had any access to the contents of the report, and when it was published by MaltaToday I confirmed what I had always thought - that it was a set-up."

Dalli added that he was convinced that the Office of the Prime Minister, which he referred to as GonziPN, was involved.

The PN veteran said that he was also shocked to hear that the Swedish Match employee Johan Gabrielsson had told a Europarliamentarian that he knew certain facts because he had a copy of the OLAF report.

"How did Swedish Match have a copy of the report?"

During the programme, Saviour Balzan said that the most damning aspect of the whole drama was the report by the Supervisory Committee.

He said the Committee had castigated OLAF and Kessler for the illegalities of the whole investigation and stated that the report should have been sent to the Committee before Barroso ever had the opportunity to act on it.

Balzan said that the whole investigation was a farce and reminded Dissett presenter and acting Head of News Reno Bugeja that no one seemed to be referring locally to the fact that Mr Gabriellson, who was from Swedish Match, had been told by OLAF and the Maltese police not to say that the second meeting with John Dalli in February 2012 had not really happened.

Balzan added that the Tobacco Directive has still not been implemented and it was very unlikely that it would be implemented this year or next.

"Every year without the Directive means billions in profits for the tobacco industry."

Quizzed by Sammut about his agenda, Balzan said it was the truth.

He reminded Sammut (a former PBS chairman, who was unceremoniously removed by Austin Gatt) that if the same fate had befallen a German commissioner, the whole German parliamentary group would have supported him or her.

He asked if Barroso would have demanded a commissioner's resignation with mighty Germany.

"Neither David Casa nor Simon Busuttil nor the Labour MEPs stood up for Dalli. Instead it was the members of the EPP, the equivalent of the Nationalist Party, that supported Dalli."

"I am sure that if the name of the commissioner was Tonio Borg or Joe Borg, there would have been a very different reaction from the Gonzi administration and, of course, PBS."

He emphasised that it was a shame that no one had decided to question the intentions of Barroso and Catherine Day.

"The international press is constantly questioning Barroso's intentions and asking, 'Why Dalli?' But here in Malta no one is asking questions. He was judged by the media and condemned before even being officially accused."

Balzan welcomed that PBS had now finally woken up and started to debate the issue.

"For a very long time PBS chose not to debate these thorny issues. The oil scandal was another case in point."