Police commissioner found no wrongdoing in Abela tape - Mallia

In one of many clips aired on Bondiplus tonight, Labour deputy leader for party affairs Toni Abela was shown declaring that he has never put pressure on anyone for nefarious means.

Lou Bondi's interpretation of the Toni Abela recording centres on the fact that a Labourite police officer may have been specifically sought out in order to influence proceedings.

Toni Abela was shown insisting that a Labour-leaning officer was not specifically sort out, but was encountered by chance.

"I was not telling the police officer what to do but was merely explaining the case to him," Abela said.

Lou Bondi questioned Opposition leader Joseph Muscat on whether Abela should resign over the matter. Muscat did not give a direct answer, instead saying that Abela will be giving more details shortly.

The PL and the PN are clearly taking different perspectives on the recording. As far as the PL is concerned, it is case closed.

"The police commissioner was informed about this recording three years ago yet no action was taken against Abela," Muscat said.

Conversely, the PN's deputy leader Simon Busuttil believes that both Abela and Muscat should be held politically responsible for the contents of the recording.

"This is a big test for Joseph Muscat now. Abela has no credibility left, and it's a test for Muscat if he believes in open government, an open party, and transparency," Busuttil said.

The second part of this evening's programme saw Manuel Mallia and Clyde Puli weighing in on the matter for the PL and PN respectively.

"The clips show this evening were a hotchpotch of different recordings and improperly analysed," according to Mallia.

He then went on to explain the legal niceties of the case referred to in the Abela recoding, drawing a distinction between a criminal offence, where the police have the prerogative to act, and a civil case.

The crux of Mallia's argument was that the recoding referred to a civil case,  making it an internal matter to be thrashed out within the Labour Party. Further to this, the police commissioner had been informed about the matter and no action was taken against Abela.

Clyde Puli insisted that the recording is a political matter involving "a feast of Labourites, given that the context of the recording was between various Labour players."

Puli accused the PL of trying to "gag the whisteblower," whilst all the while having the audacity to harp on about the need for a Whistleblower's act.

"It is significant that Abela specifically scoped out a Labour-leaning officer. He wanted to influence the course of justice," Puli said.

Mallia once again interjected that a distinction has to be made between civil and criminal cases.

"The police commissioner knows the law and is probably laughing at this very moment. Abela has shown that he is an excellent lawyer and the police commissioner has confirmed this," Mallia said.

He also accused Puli of not knowing what a whistleblower actually is and said that the fact that the police officer in question was a Labourite was purely coincidental.

For his part Puli was adamant that the discussion should centre on "Toni Abela the PL deputy leader, not Toni Abela the lawyer. This matter transcends the police."

The issue of the presidential pardon was brought up towards the very end of the program.

Puli's line of attack was that the emails revealed by The Sunday Times were cryptic at best, and that 'Aust' and 'A.G' could mean anything.

Mallia expressed his discomfort that the pardon had taken place in the political arena.

"There is scope within our law for the Attorney General, together with the police to act in such cases. There was no need for the Prime Minister and cabinet to interfere."