Update 2 | PN says Muscat must answer for conflict allegation against Labour MP

The Nationalist Party has demanded that the Prime Minister take action over one of its MPs being accused of a conflict of interest, after a court of law forwarded the allegation to the Commission for the Administration of Justice, the watchdog for the judiciary and legal profession.

Labour MP Luciano Busuttil was alleged to have had a conflict of interest in the adjudication of a council tender on waste collection, but is insisting that the allegation was withdrawn during the hearing of the Public Contracts Review Board before the matter went to a court of appeal.

The Court of Appeal yesterday called on the CAJ to investigate the allegation of conflict of interest, after declaring the tender for the collection of domestic waste null and void.

Plaintiff WM Environmental Ltd claimed that it had the second-cheapest offer for a waste collection tender for the Bormla local council. But after disqualifying the cheapest offer, the council chose the third cheapest offer “on advice of its lawyer Luciano Busuttil”.

WM Environmental added that Busuttil had been the lawyer of the winning tenderer in a previous legal matter.

Opposition says PM must answer

The Opposition has described the affair as a “serious matter” and said that Prime Minister Joseph “cannot stay silent before this accusation of a conflict of interest by one of his MPs. Muscat must declare whether he will defend Busuttil or if he will take steps against him.”

The PN said Muscat did not have a consistent record on the positions he takes with erring MPs. “When former deputy leader Anglu Farrugia passed comments on a magistrate, Muscat sacked him. Labour candidate Cyrus Engerer, who was found guilty of criminal charges, was defended and described as a hero. The legitimate question is: what will Muscat do in the case of Busuttil?”

“Muscat is a prime minister. A serious prime minister faces the media and says the truth. He has a lot to answer for.”

OPM statement

Earlier today, the Office of the Prime Minister told MaltaToday it was informed of the judgement and is following its outcome. “We note Dr Luciano Busuttil’s version of events which contradict claims of unethical behaviour. Dr Busuttil is saying he is not, was not at the time of adjudication, the lawyer of one of the bidders. It is woth nothing that this point was not mentioned by the claimant in the appeal process,” a spokesperson for the OPM said.

“He is also saying that he was not advising on the adjudication or awarding points for the tender, but he was advising about the validity of documents submitted in the tendering process. Now the case is in the hands of the Commission for the Administration of Justice,” the spokesperson said.

Busuttil denial

Earlier on Friday morning, Busuttil told MaltaToday he had spoken to the Prime Minister about the case and that he would be issuing a full reaction shortly.

“I was shocked at the accusation because I was not the winning bidder’s client at the time I was asked by the local council for my advice,” the MP said.

Busuttil says he was asked by the council for his opinion after the tenders had been opened, a fact he did not know at the time he was asked to give his interpretation on a legal clause.

“I was not involved in the process. I did not even know who the bidders were,” he said.

Busuttil also says that he denied the allegation of having a conflict of interest at the time the decision was being contested in the Public Contracts Review Board.

MaltaToday contacted the lawyer of WM Environmental, John Bonello, who said the allegation was made by the company in its submissions to the PCRB. Bonello was subsequently involved by the company during the PRCB hearing.

“I spoke to Dr Busuttil about the allegation before the start of the review board sitting. Towards the end of the sitting, Busuttil registered his denial of the allegation and explained the situation. It took up just five seconds of the PRCB sitting's proceedings, and a decision was taken. I was then not involved in the appeal filed in court by WM Environmental,” Bonello told MaltaToday.

MaltaToday understands that Busuttil was asked for his opinion after the council had opened the tenders. But the council later told tenderers that its decision was informed by Busuttil's opinion. “Knowing that Dr Busuttil had had a legal relationship with the winning bidder at one time, my client felt justified in submitting this claim to the PRCB,” Bonello said.

Case details

In its writ filed against the Bormla Local Council and Director of Contracts, WM Environmental Ltd said that the council issued a call for tenders for the collection of domestic waste in January 2014.

It said the cheapest offer was disqualified because it did not contain a proper bid bond, while the second cheapest offer – that submitted by WM Environmental Ltd. – was also turned down after the council claimed that the company failed to include the details of the company’s employees.

The plaintiff claims the local council’s decision was taken on advice of its lawyer Luciano Busuttil.

The company argued that Busuttil was the lawyer of the winning bidder in another case, while the local council and the contracts department had not flagged any missing documentation on its part.

When the PRCB turned down their appeal, the company filed an appeal in court.

The Bormla council claimed that it only noticed the missing documentation when the tender was opened, and refuted WM Environmental’s accusation of having removed the documents in question as “false and defamatory”.

The Appeals Court upheld the appeal, and annulled the award of the tender to Saviour Mifsud, ordering that the adjudication process starts afresh.

But it also expressed concern at the claims made by WM about Busuttil’s alleged conflict of interest, and ordered a copy of the judgment be delivered to the Attorney General, the Director of Contracts and the Council for the Administration of Justice for the necessary investigations to be carried out.