Frank Portelli: ‘I regret contesting PN leadership’

Just over a month into the race, the outspoken doctor said he regretted his decision to run because of ‘unfair attacks’ on his family and loved ones

Frank Portelli has been on the subject of a few blog posts by blogger and Malta Independent columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia
Frank Portelli has been on the subject of a few blog posts by blogger and Malta Independent columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia

Frank Portelli, one of the four PN leadership hopefuls has said that he regrets submitting his nomination to contend the post.

Writing on Facebook, the outspoken and controversial doctor said he regretted his decision because of ‘unfair attacks’ suffered by him and his family.

“I feel responsible for the pain that my family has suffered as a result of unfair attacks because of me. I regret running for the post,” Portelli wrote in a post uploaded last night.

 

A second post, uploaded last night, showing a man hanging from a parachute landing in the midst of ‘hungry crocodiles’, was captioned with the words: “Doctor, these hungry crocodiles (DCG) are ready for the PN leadership contenders”.

 

Portelli has been on the subject of a few blog posts by blogger and Malta Independent columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia, known by her initials as DCG.

In two particular posts, dated 7 and 8 August, Caruana Galizia claimed Portelli had attempted to deceive the public regarding his marital status, describing how he tried to make it appear as if he had only obtained a divorce from his British wife because it was a prerequisite from a Diocese in Britain to nullify his marriage.

Rebutting accusations by Portelli that she had “harmed his family,” in a blog post entitled ‘Nationalist Party leadership candidate Frank Portelli lied about his marriage’ Caruana Galizia said that it was Portelli who had harmed his family when he pursued a relationship with his current wife.

You harmed your family, Frank. You harmed your family when you started an affair with a nurse young enough to be your daughter, when you had two children so young that they were in primary school, and you were still married to their mother. You harmed your family when you divorced their mother and then petitioned the Catholic Church to say that you were never married to her in the first place – all so that you could marry the nurse,” the blogger wrote.