PN leader says police commissioner turning corps into ‘Labour club’

Police commissioner Peter Paul Zammit was turning the corps into a "Labour club," Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said.

Speaking during an interview on the Nationalist Party's radio station, Busuttil said that recent events, including the commissioner's handling of the investigations into the wrongful arrest of an innocent person, had shown that Zammit's leadership was objectionable. 

Listing a number of episodes which "embarrassed" the police force, Busuttil highlighted the function in which policemen were sent to work as waiters.

"The police commissioner is trying to turn the corps into a Labour club. I am making a stern warning because these events are unacceptable," Busuttil said.

He added that he would not allow the commissioner to victimise anyone for political reasons, Busuttil said in reference to Inspector Elton Taliana who is under investigation for his role in the wrongful arrest of Daryl Luke Borg.

Findings from the police board inquiry into the wrongful prosecution of 27-year-old Darryl Luke Borg concluded that Police Inspector Elton Taliana had failed to inform investigating officers that a second suspect had been interrogated and admitted to committing the crime while Borg was in prison for a crime he didn't commit.

It also recommended that disciplinary measures should be taken against Taliana. The 13-page report was published by the Ministry for Home Affairs. However, in recent weeks, the Opposition has gone to great lengths to defend Taliana and accuse the police board of investigating the wrong person.

Busuttil described the police board inquiry as a "travesty of justice" and expressed his disappointment at the outcome of the inquiry.

"I blame the Prime Minister for appointing a police board which has investigated a person who carried his duties properly instead of investigating why and who was responsible for arraigning the wrong person. It's not the board's fault or its chairman's, but the fault for this travesty lies squarely at the government's feet," Busuttil said.

"I am not surprised about this since the Police Commissioner is a Labour activist," Busuttil said, adding that the Opposition had warned about the danger of appoint Peter Paul Zammit at the helm of the police corps.

This week, the Nationalist Party raised a possible breach of data retention laws over claims by the commissioner that he checked telephone logs that confirmed that ministerial aide Silvio Scerri had not contacted Darryl Luke Borg before giving evidence in front of the police board.

In reference to this, the PN leader asked what guarantee does the public have that the police commissioner will not ask for anyone's phone logs if he has done this illegally in Borg's case.

On the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee, which this week started scrutinising the National Audit Office investigations into Enemalta's oil procurement procedures between 2008 and early 2011, Busuttil said that the PN was committed to exposing the truth. 

"We do not want anything to remain concealed. We are committed to expose the truth," Busuttil said as he pointed out that the NAO report had a series of serious shortcomings.

These shortcomings include the lack of questioning of persons involved in the oil procurement, Busuttil said as he explained that the PN was obliged to point out these shortcomings while insisting that these do not constitute an attack on the NAO.

However, Busuttil accused the NAO of having double standards when it awarded direct orders while scrutinising the government's contracts. He added that the NAO had appointed experts who were employed at Enemalta when the state utility's activities are under investigation, in reference to Robert Ghirlando who was Enemalta chairman between 1998 and 2003.  

He accused the government of committing the same mistakes committed by previous Nationalist administrations, adding that while the PN was "humbly" admitting its past mistakes, the Labour government had not learnt anything.

"The government has not started governing. We have a government elected on the Malta Taghna Lkoll shout which is rudderless. The country is going round in circles, not knowing what direction to take," Busuttil said, criticising the government for its lack of employment policies.

He accused the Labour government of "hijacking" the country rather than governing the country, adding that the government has made the country its own private property.

Asked on the PN's restructuring process, Busuttil admitted that the last four months were "possibly the most difficult period for the party since Independence in 1964."

"These four months have not been wasted. We have put our house in order and only after completing this process can we go out and get on with our job. If we do not put our house in order it would be useless going into electoral campaigns with the intent of emerging victorious."

Busuttil insisted that the party was rebuilding bridges with the people and reconnecting with the electorate.

"This is in contrast with the government who is still on holiday. Where is the government? " Busuttil said, hitting out at foreign minister George Vella for missing an EU meeting on the Egyptian crisis because he was on holiday.

"Who thinks that the PN is standing still, we have gone on and chosen eight candidates for next year's European election, one year before the election giving the candidates time to meet with the electorate," the PN leader said, noting that the PN would be choosing more candidates at a later stage.

Admitting that the 2014 European elections might come too soon for the party, Busuttil said that the PN is aiming at electing three MEPs for the first time ever.

He explained that the PN would be upping the tempo in the coming weeks, with the party set to announce the activities leading to the 49^th anniversary of the country's independence in September.

Directly addressing the party faithful, Busuttil said: "The PN needs you now, be there for the party in the coming weeks as we celebrate Independence."

Busuttil also denied reports, which said that he was currently urging workers to resign from the General Workers Union and join the PN-leaning Union Haddiema Maghqudin. He said that he would be seeking legal advice on these reports and insisted that he respected unions' autonomy.  

Yet, Busuttil shed doubts on the General Workers' Union autonomy by asking whether the union would take the workers' side or the government's side in the eventuality of an industrial dispute.