Simon Busuttil tells Muscat: nominate Ombudsman or Auditor General for Court of Auditors

PN leader Simon Busuttil said he would openly support people like Ombudsman Anthony Mifsud and Auditor General Charles Deguara to the European Court of Auditors, describing them as “quality candidates”.

Busuttil said on party station Radio 101 that he was ready to support serious candidates untainted by the Panama Papers scandal, which revealed that then energy minister Konrad Mizzi and the Prime Minister’s chief of staff Keith Schembri had opened Panamanian offshore firms and a New Zealand trust to move potential business earnings there.

“I’m ready to support a serious candidate untainted by Panama, and I will give the PN’s total support to that candidate. But I’ve heard nothing from the Prime Minister so far. My offer remains open.”

Busuttil said that a resounding vote by the European Parliament against the nomination of minister Leo Brincat was down to the fact that he supported Mizzi in a confidence motion filed against the minister.

“Had we voted in favour of Brincat we would have been complicit with the government on Panama. We voted against Brincat because we voted against corruption and in favour of the national interest,” Busuttil said.

Busuttil added that it was a massive vote that included socialists such as Portuguese MEP and Panama Papers committee member Ana Gomes, that refuted Brincat’s nomination.

“It showed that Muscat managed to unite everyone on a European level against him. And we don’t want any of this dirt – we want our country to be truly European.