Paul Borg Olivier attempts to curry favour with Sliema with ‘letter of explanation’

Residents of Sliema, where its beleaguered local council has seen its mayor resign from the Nationalist Party, have received a letter from PN secretary-general Paul Borg Olivier explaining why he expelled Nikki Dimech from the party.

In the letter, addressed personally to individual members of each household, Borg Olivier says he “felt the need to write to you because I believe you should know the real reasons leading to the expulsion of Nikki Dimech.”

The secretary-general has been under pressure to revert the negative tide of public perception after a PN councillor, Sandra Camilleri, said she was coerced in signing an impeachment motion against Dimech. Both Dimech and Camilleri have resigned from the PN and stayed on as independent councillors.

Borg Olivier has also filed two libel suits against MaltaToday over reports on his candidature in the Sliema electoral district.

“Sliema residents elected representatives to work in your best interest and that of the local council, and to this seriously and with respect to you and of the laws of the country. Like you, the PN expects every councillor to carry out their duties with the highest of ethical and moral standards,” Borg Olivier writes.

Borg Olivier claims he was contacted by Dimech on 14 August, after the mayor was questioned by police, and told he had admitted to demanding commissions on a council contract – a statement that contrasts with Dimech’s claim that it was Borg Olivier who called him, 15 minutes after emerging from the police HQ, and that the secretary-general was already aware that he had admitted to the accusations.

“I informed him his admission implicated unacceptable behaviour… and that he could not keep representing the PN and had to resign.

“The next day he had to report to the central headquarters. But he did not come, he did not respond to calls or to emails I sent, and he still did not resign. In the light of all this and his declarations, the PN decided that Nikki Dimech be expelled immediately. This is because the PN insists every councillor to always and in every circumstance behave according to the highest moral and ethical standards in the course of duty.

“In the meantime, the PN was informed of other investigations from the IAID within the OPM, which investigations concern other grave allegations. In the light of these developments, with a letter dated 12 August I informed Nikki Dimech of the decision of the PN’s administrative council, that he was being expelled with immediate effect.

“The PN understands your disappointment at what happened in the Sliema local council. But I assure you the party’s decision was taken with your best interest at heart.”

Dimech has been summoned to report to the police headquarters this morning, to be questioned by Inspector Angelo Gafà over claims that he was the victim of a “frame-up” and that Paul Borg Olivier had directed him to award a waste recovery tender to Green MT, a company owned by the Chamber of SMEs (GRTU).

Inspector Angelo Gafà is also the same police officer who interrogated Dimech on allegations that he had demanded a commission on a council contract. Dimech has claimed he admitted to the accusations “under duress” and that he was denied an inhaler during his questioning.

Dimech is also being questioned on statements he told the Internal Audit Investigations Department, which was running an inquiry into alleged financial mismanagement inside the Sliema council, that Borg Olivier directed him to choose Green MT: a company owned by the GRTU (Chamber of SMEs).

The company is also co-owned by GRTU director Vince Farrugia, a former PN candidate for the 2009 European Parliament elections.

Dimech told the IAID that Borg Olivier called him 15 minutes before the start of a council meeting, instructing him to choose Green MT for the tender. Borg Olivier has denied the allegation.