[WATCH] PN donations: Fenech Adami refuses to name programmes ‘sponsored by db Group’

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The Nationalist Party has refused to name Media.Link’s programmes which have been “sponsored” by db Group, citing commercially-sensitive information.

Whilst insisting that at no point did the PN’s commercial arm breach any laws, PN deputy leader Beppe Fench Adami also refused to justify invoicing db Group subsidiary Sky Gourmet Malta - a company which exclusively provides catering services to airlines and does not provide any services to the general public – for €70,800.

The Labour Party has accused the Nationalist Party of breaching party financial legislation by issuing invoices through its commercial arm for donations made to the party. The PN has retorted that the invoices covered programme sponsorship – but pressed by MaltaToday, Fenech Adami said he could not name the programmes.

“This is commercially-sensitive information that no company would ever agree to disclose,” he replied.

Fenech Adami called the press conference after last night he tabled in parliament an anonymous letter accusing parliamentary secretary Justyne Caruana and Magistrate Grezzju Mercieca of being the two senior officials who intervened in a drug trafficking case in Gozo. The case is currently subject to an independent inquiry and Caruana has denied the allegations.

Fenech Adami himself said he does not believe that Caruana was one of the officials: “She definitely doesn’t have access to the Gozo Ministry late at night.”

Read more: Gozo drug case | Police escorts key witnesses to late night meeting

Fenech Adami however argued that the case “highlights the government’s ties to organised crime”.

“We are currently facing a situation where, instead of the minister choosing to take responsibility for his actions, a mudslinging campaign is launched against individuals in the same political party,” Fenech Adami said, shying away from identifying any specific minister by name.

The PN’s deputy leader insisted that it was not dangerous for politicians to take up allegations included in an anonymous letter.

He argued that the past four years were characterised by political interference in many national institutions, like the Malta Police Force and the Armed Forces of Malta. 

"The police force in particular has become a victim of political interference to the detriment of the general public," he said. 

"It is obvious that the prime minister does not want to establish the truth in this case, as he appointed a former Labour Party candidate two investigate two Labour government ministers."

Fenech Adami said that, to date, the prime minister had also failed to publish the inquiry's terms of reference and to establish a fixed term for the inquiry. 

"We are not discussing petty crime here. We are talking about drug trafficking and the consequences of stepping on drug traffickers' toes. [The letter] is a cowardly attempt to raise a smokescreen around the real issues.

“The prime minister has the authority to establish which if his ministers had access to the Gozo ministry building on that day in October 2013. He has the duty to establish which of ministers were there and he should not hide behind the inquiry.”