PN slams 'weak' Muscat for not stopping Café Premier payments

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s decision not to stop payments to Cafe Premier’s owner is a “confirmation of his weakness”, the Nationalist Party said.

Yesterday, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said that if the Café Premier ‘scandal’ was a mistake, then the government should stop making payments to its owners, Cities Entertainment.

However, when asked by journalists earlier today, Muscat said that the Café Premier shortcomings were “procedural” and not political and hence “do not lead to a cancellation of the payments”.

“This is a bare-faced lie that nobody believes,” the PN said in a statement. “Muscat is a hostage to his pre-electoral promises and feels afraid when the truth comes out.”

The PN added that the Café Premier “scandal” wasn’t a mistake but the result of premeditated actions.

“The government held meetings with Cities Entertainment before and after the elections,” the PN said. “Café Premier closed its doors on election day, the Prime Minister was directly involved in negotiations, and the Lands Department was completely left out of such negotiations.

“Muscat must shoulder political responsibility.”