What the Sunday papers say…

A round-up of the newspaper headlines on Sunday morning.

MaltaToday says former Labour deputy leader for party affairs Toni Abela is being touted for c-option to the House of Representatives to replace Malta’s nominee to the European Court of Auditors Leo Brincat. ‘The newspaper also reveals that the President of the Republic Marie Louise Coleiro Preca has personally called on representatives of both political parties to address the political tension and to seek ways of defusing it.

Sunday newspaper Illum quotes newly-appointed Competitiveness Minister Manuel Mallia saying that it was not an easy decision to return to the Cabinet. It also quotes Chris Cardona saying he had not previously stood for the PL deputy leadership election because he had proposed Konrad Mizzi himself. In an interview with the newspaper, AD leader Arnold Cassola says the Prime Minister’s attempts at regaining the public’s trust after ‘Panamagate’ were are all in vain.

The Sunday Times of Malta reports that the “majority” of Labour MPs still want Konrad Mizzi to go and that the Cabinet reshuffle has not placated public anger over the Panama Papers scandal. In another story, the newspaper says the new LNG power plant in Delimara has hit another snag and will a miss another deadline.

The Malta Independent on Sunday says a land-based storage of LNG to fuel the new Delimara power station would have cost anywhere between US$500 million and US$1 billion. In another story, it claims that BOV is accepting business from Libyan nationals without carrying out the necessary due diligence.

It-Torca says Dione Borg, the secretary of Floriana FC and a Nationalist Party employee, has denied having taken a picture of minister Konrad Mizzi for blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia during a recent football match.

Nationalist news organ il-mument quotes PN leader Simon Busuttil saying government scandals are a slap in the face for workers, and that the reshuffle has revealed Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to be a hostage in Castille.

Labour newspaper Kullhadd quotes Joseph Muscat saying today’s May Day events will celebrate Labour’s achievements. It also reports that a social housing project in Gozo was not carried out because former minister Chris Said wanted to please some supporters and private entities.