Updated | Family demands eviction of Qormi PL club • Labour says 'agreement regulated by law'

Nationalist MP and lawyer Jason Azzopardi presented a letter in court on behalf of 11 people who are claiming that a premises in Qormi is used as a Labour Party club “illegally and abusively.”

Azzopardi gave the premises’ occupiers two weeks to vacate the building and give the rightful owners of the building a just compensation for the abusive occupation of the dwelling.

In a reaction issued by its communications office, the Labour Party said the rent of the Qormi premises was regulated by Maltese laws.

It said, that only recently were regulations introduced to ensure that justice is made with landlords in terms of payment of rent, “something which was never done when Azzopardi was a minister”.

“Now that the landlords have opted to take the matter to court, the Labour Party will be respecting any decision the court is set to take as has been done in similar cases,” Labour said.

Meanwhile, the opposition today accused Prime Minister Joseph Muscat of resorting to more lies, this time over party financing.

“Yesterday morning, Muscat chose to talk on the party financing draft law in the Labour Party club in Ghaxaq, which is one of the clubs the Labour Party stole from a family,” the PN said.

The opposition added that Muscat was wrong when he claimed that the opposition is demanding compensation based on the value of the properties taken over by Labour.

“The Nationalist Party’s position is clear, the law should place all political parties on a level playing field and labour should return the stolen properties to their rightful owners.”

It insisted that over the years, Labour had taken over 28 properties from the government or private owners and was using them as clubs. Moreover, the PN reminded, Labour had taken over a number of properties, such as the Australia Hall in Pembroke, which is valued at €10 million.

Last week, PN secretary-general Chris Said told Parliament that the PN will move a number of amendments to the draft party financing law, including a mechanism which would compensate the PN for the financial disadvantage it suffered over the years.