Busuttil warns Muscat that he will lose public trust, despite winning Schembri vote

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil warned that the government will lose the faith of the public, despite winning a vote on whether the Prime Minister should sack his chief of staff Keith Schembri.

“Many people are disgusted at the fact that the Prime Minister has not taken any action against his chief of staff,” he said during a parliamentary debate to discuss an amended motion proposed by independent MP Marlene Farrugia. “Do different laws apply for the gods at Castille and for the rest of us second-class citizens?”

Pledging to wipe out the “corrupt mentality” that has infected Malta if he is elected Prime Minister, Busuttil warned that traditional Labour voters are frustrated at the way Muscat believes they will swallow everything he tells them.

He noted that Schembri and Mizzi had tried to open bank accounts in nine different banks for their offshore Panama companies, and that the bank –BSI – that gave them the go-ahead only did so on condition that they deposit €800,000 a year, negotiated down from €1 million a year.

“An elderly couple who earns €600 a month through a minimum pension would have to wait 100 years to earn €800,000,” he said, over shouts by social welfare minister Michael Farrugia that he had earned more than that amount through direct orders under the previous administration.

“How did they have that money to deposit when they are supposedly on ministers’ and chief of staff’s salaries?” he asked. “First they told the public that they set up their companies for estate planning purposes, but it was then revealed in the Panama Papers that the money would be earned through brokerage fees. When the banks rejected this explanation, they said that it would be originated from igaming and waste recycling joint ventures in India.”

Busuttil claimed that Schembri is the "Prime Minister behind the curtains" and that ministers require his go-ahead before implementing any measires, to which several ministers accused him of lying.

Busuttil noted that accounting firm Nexia BT set up five offshore Panama companies – one whose ultimate beneficial owner remains unknown, and four apiece for its own managing partner Brian Tonna, Keith Schembri, Konrad Mizzi, and a certain Cheng Chen.

The PN leader noted that Chen had been part of the negotiating team behind Shanghai Electric’s 33% partial purchase of Enemalta.

To shouts of “liar” and "filth" by the Prime Minister, Busuttil said that Mizzi had declared €6.4 million in personal revenue to his financial advisors, noting that the figure is equivalent to 2% of the €320 million that Shanghai Electric spent to purchase 33% of Enemalta.

The allegation was first flagged on the blog of Malta Independent columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

During the debate, Busuttil clashed with Speaker Anglu Farrugia over his ruling not to allow Farrugia’s original no confidence motion against Schembri to go through.

When Farrugia interrupted to tell him that a debate on that motion was held yesterday, Busuttil questioned whether he will kick him out for speaking about it.

“I don’t say anything behind your back, but in your face,” he told the Speaker. “Your ruling was simply unacceptable, and it didn’t pass a vote because it was the right decision, but because the Labour Party enjoys a majority of seats in Parliament.”