Busuttil says PN shouldered responsibility by losing election
Opposition leader Simon Busuttil says Nationalist Party shouldered responsibility for errors by losing election.
The PN shouldered its responsibilities for the biggest corruption allegation to have rocked Malta by losing the election, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said.
Replying to the Labour Party's statement released earlier this afternoon, which said that Busuttil had "a lot to answer for" on the oil corruption scandal, the PN leader insisted that he was committed to exposing the whole truth and this was evident in his proposal to have an inquiry held by Parliament's public accounts committee.
Reacting to this morning's revelations in court, the Labour Party said emails presented in court have revealed that oil trader George Farrugia knew both former transport minister Austin Gatt and then Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, despite the two having denied knowing him.
However, speaking on RTK Radio, Busuttil said that before the March election seven persons were arraigned in court and asked why nobody has been taken to court since Labour was elected.
In February, MaltaToday revealed that commissions were paid by Trafigura and TOTSA to a former chairman of the Mediterranean Oil Bunkering Corporation, as well as the former chairman of Enemalta.
The publication of invoices showing the payments funnelled to petrochemist Frank Sammut led to his arraignment on charges of corruption and bribery, as well as Tancred Tabone, and business partners Anthony Cassar and Francis Portelli. Police investigators also revealed that Sammut and Tabone were silent partners in a Cassar's and Portelli's bunkering firm while still occupying public posts and taking decisions on the state's procurement of fuel.
Accepting and apologising for the PN's errors along the years, Busuttil called on Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to shoulder responsibility for the current government's errors since March.