Abela recording ‘a test for Muscat’, Busuttil

PN deputy leader accuses Labour of being ‘morally bankrupt’ party

Nationalist deputy leader Simon Busuttil said a secret recording in which Labour deputy leader Toni Abela is heard saying that he asked a police officer not to press criminal charges, meant that Abela had to step down.

Addressing a press conference, Busuttil said that Abela had already denied the same allegations twice before on live television.

"This is a big test for Joseph Muscat now. Abela has no credibility left, and it's a test for Muscat if he believes in open government, an open party, and transparency."

Abela today denied having exerted any pressure on a police officer, but said he had asked a police officer at the Birkirkara police station not to press criminal charges on what was a civil matter - the particular incident concerned the barman of the Attard Labour club, who appears to have reported a PL committee member to the police for changing the locks to the bar.

But Busuttil accused Labour of being "morally bankrupt" and that it was unacceptable that a politician applies any pressure on a police officer. "Such behaviour is condemnable."

Busuttil rebutted earlier statements made by Abela that the PN's own club in Mosta had hosted illicit activity in the form of pole dancers. "I am not aware of these allegations but if they are public already then it should have been investigated. When we are made aware of such matters, we take them directly to the police."

This statement was the cue for a question as to why the PN had not furnished the police with a recording in which General Workers Union secretary-general Tony Zarb was heard saying he could give favoured companies "a push" on government tenders, especially if Labour is in power.

"The Zarb case concerns a political statement, and not a criminal act," Busuttil replied.

The recordings concern a meeting held between Zarb and cleaning services contractor Dominic Gafà, in which the union boss tells Gafà that the union's antagonistic attitude towards him would change if he allows his employees to unionise. Gafà is believed to have received 27 contracts from the government, including the OPM, on precarious work conditions for his employees.

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THE RECORDINGS ARE A TEST FOR SIMON BUSUTTIL WHO IS SHOWING HIMSELF AS BEING MORE OF THE SAME OF THE GONZIPN CLIQUE. WE ARE FED UP WITH HIM AND HIS PARTY WHO TRY THEIR HARDEST TO DEVIATE THE PUBLIC OPINION FROM THE MASSIVE BILLION DOLLAR CORRUPTION SCANDAL THAT HAS ENGULFED GONZIPN AND HIS PARTY.
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Simon believes that charisma alone carries one to believe what is being said. What Simon has not realised is that immaterial of the March elections outcome the fact remain the PN is reeling from the dirty oil scum and a hurried presidential pardon was needed to plug the heamorrage-I will be voting for change otherwise this nation of ours will really headbut the inevitable-taxes to sustain inefficiency!!
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Instead of continuing to make a prize idiot of himself, Busuttil should set his mind - simple as simple Simon's is - to more serious matters, say the current oil corruption scandal, BWSC, the "ethical" conduct of Minister Tonio Fenech, public funds frittered away and harshly criticised by the Auditor General and a hundred and one other things. I cannot recall throughout my many years a politician who entered the arena with such a highly publicised profile and proved to be a collosal flop. ALBERT FENECH Qawra
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Simon ,fi-Brussell jekk tigdeb forsi ma jindunawx jew jindunaw meta jikxfulek kollox l-MP's li jirraprezentaw lill-Partit Laburista , izda għawnhekk jekk tigdeb issib eluf li jaqbduk fil-pront. Forsi għalhekk inti kont stqarrejt illi kieku ridt tigdeb fil-politika , kont tibqa fil-parlament go-Brussell . Għawnhekk malajr tinqabad għax in-nies nhux ċwieċ bħall ma darba ħaseb Tonio Fenech li darba kellu persuna taħdem miegħu bħala seftur u li kien iħaddimha mingħajr ktieb tax-xogħol , meta din suppost kienet tħallas it-taxxa u meta hu bħala Ministru tal-Finanzi kellu l-obligu li jara li ħadd ma jevadi it-taxxi .
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simon the more you speak, the more you try to be the perfect guy , the more I feel distance myself from the party....
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Simon, can't you see that you're being stupid and you're trying to treat us as stupid too??? All those stupid statements of yours will reflect in next month's results!! I'm sure of this!!!Keep on saying those silly things and time will teach you a lesson!!!!STAR CANDITATE!!! MY FOOT!!!
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I never expected that this Busullotti deputy leader would be so naive. You expect Toni Abela to resign. Okay then what would you say for the whole chain of corruption which has riddled this administration. Gonzipn being so feeble and weak to deal with so many cases that Malta has plunged further down in the rankings of the most corrupt countries in the world. Nobody has resigned and I expected you dear Busullotti to take the bull by the horns and try at least but to no avail. You are being connected with the klikka which has ruined the Nationalist party and I had high hopes in you but unfortunately even when it comes to mud slinging you are so simple, so naive and so hopeless.
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Simon Have you resigned you MEP seat? If not why not? Maybe you find yourself more comfortable telling lies in Brussels?
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Simon you should be taking a break from this political campaign. The more you push accountability and the more you shoot your mouth off to spew reckless statements, the more that the Maltese electorate is realising what a hollow puff pastry you really represent. That slippery political slope will soon take you down to ther bottom, where you will not be able to climb back on. Your shining armour has lost its lustre and if you fall of your horse there will be no one to pick you up. One must feel sorry for the electorate that devides to vote for you to represent them.
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A real simple Simon.
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Ha, ha, ha, ha......the joker has spoken. Cannot even explain the methodology of his own party manifesto. Dr. Busuttil had better get off his high horse before he falls off! We all know what skeletons lie in your cupboard.
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Simon, you should not even contest an election. You were a politician in disguise in the MIC - a non political organisation but an information for the EU. Hope that one day, you will burden the responasbility for the things you said and were not correct.
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Simon you are misquoting Toni, no surprise here. But hey, you know what? You are making me miss Tonio Borg. I never thought I would say that! I just cannot see why the PN had the misguided idea of making you deputy leader!
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Simon from 'Hero to Zero' in 60 days. Int dhaht b'Malta kollha meta ghidtilna li se niehdu LM100 miljun fis-sena netti. Fejn ghosfru dawn. Dhaqt ukoll bin-nassaba u l-kaccaturi. Mela x'imissek taghmel INT?
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Luke Camilleri
WHY doesn't Simon Busuttil make a test for PN whip David Agius and sees if he copies to pass the TEST .... or gets caught COPYING to get his grades ! Was Dr. Busuttil ever briefed on David Agius' copying and even getting caught 3 times at it ? A complete incompetent , even at copying!
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I think that Dr Simon Busuttil should tell us about what is happening with in his political Party. I think we should know why the Prime Minister and the cabinet gave the President pardon. How is AG and Aust on the emails published by the Times of Malta. I think this is more important than this case with Dr Abela. I think starting from the Prime Minister and all his cabinet should leave Malta.
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The Perfect Politician - Simon Busuttil - coming from the holier than thou PN, is calling the PL as morally bankrupt, also referring to this episode as a test for PL leader.... what a cheek. The PN in government having a hell of a corruption case in its own backyard and wants TA to resign. I wonder what shall crop next tomorrow and the day after in order to deflect attention from the oil mega scandal. This is how the PN wants to win (steal) the elections. I just hope that should JM become prime minister, he should endeavour to unearth all the scum around this bribery case.....
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Darba wahda kien hemm wiehed li qal lill-wahda mara li giet imwaqqfa mill-pulizija "WARRAB ISSA HAWN JIEN" Tghid dak kien indhil, bullying jew sfida? Imma forsi Simon kien ghad ma jezistix dakinhar.
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Darba wahda kien hemm wiehed li qal lill-wahda mara li giet imwaqqfa mill-pulizija "WARRAB ISSA HAWN JIEN" Tghid dak kien indhil, bullying jew sfida? Imma forsi Simon kien ghad ma jezistix dakinhar.
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Reġa tkellem dal-buffu , għax verament trid tkun BUFFU biex tgħid li dan hu test għall Dr.Joseph Muscat u tinsa dak il-ħmieġ kollu li għandkhom . Għax ma tgħidx lill-GONZI biex jerfa ir-risponsabbilta' ta' dak kollu li sar taħtu ? L-ewwel qbadt fuq Dr Anġlu Farrugia wara fuq Tony Zarb u issa fuq Dr Tony Abela . Tiftakar sur purċinell meta kien hemm Dr Eddie Fenech Adami , li kien qal lill-xi ħadd li kien għamel kontravinzjoni , Hawn jien suq . Jew kont għadek bil-ħarqa dakinhar , Sur Buffu ?
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Oh! Simon, you better take a close look at the PN local clubs. Does the somikng ban apply to your PN local clubs? - Check them out please. Is this not breaking the law?
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Li jippruvaw ihammgu l-integrita' tad-deputy leader mhux se jirnexxilhom. Zgur mhux se jikkonvincu lin-nies ghax kulhadd jaf min huma il-veru rgiel li jatu hafna minn hinhom ghal gid ta' l-ohrajn.
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Li jippruvaw ihammgu l-integrita' tad-deputy leader mhux se jirnexxilhom. Zgur mhux se jikkonvincu lin-nies ghax kulhadd jaf min huma il-veru rgiel li jatu hafna minn hinhom ghal gid ta' l-ohrajn.
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The real test, dear Simon, is the interpretation of the letters AG and Aust in George Farrugia's emails. GonziPN, dragging behind him poor Simon, is trying to draw the people's attention away from this most bizarre scandal in Maltese history by making mountains out of molehills. There's a lot to explain to the people by GonziPN, and this pathetic effort at throwing mud at the PL show that they have no solid arguments with which to tarnish Joseph's reputation.
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Joseph Pellicano
jaqbilek id dabbar rasek lejn brussel ghax hemm min qiad jistenik bil herqa.
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Joseph Pellicano
mela mintix taqra gazzeti bussutin, ma tafx bil hmieg u korruzjoni ta sihbek AG, ara lil dak tidefendih, hallina ja bidilu li int.
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U ejja Dr. Simon. I think you no longer wish to be considered as the next PN leader and you are purposely trying to sound like a cretino, expecting to take out the speck in your brothers' eye, without first removing the beam from his eye. And what a beam its turing out to be! Dr. Simon How you must regret your decision to leave Brussels to become even if unwittingly, involved in this Mafia style oil saga
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Paul Sammut
Can Dr Busuttil MEP enlighten us if he 1. Recalls EFA's "Hawn jien suq!"? 2. Has evidence that Dr Abela applied pressure and did not make a recommendation to the police? 3. Can stop being trivial, grow up and come out with something substantial for the good of the nation?
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And now Gonzi is even seeing fit to comment on Pope Benedict's resignation, saying that it was in the best interests of the Church that he resigned. Who does he think he is? In his (Gonzi's) case, he said that resigning would have been the easy way out, that he believes one should stay on and sort out one's own messes. Is he implying that the Pope did not have a strong enough pair of hands to stay the course?....Don't make us laugh, Dr. Gonzi. It's unfortunate that only Cardinals have been appointed Popes in the last 600 years as I am sure that with your amazing and unique qualities of infallibility, coupled with your special leadership skills (only you are apparently qualified to negotiate a budget with the EU), your Gonzi clerical pedigree and your Catholic Action background, I'm sure that you would have been an excellent Maltese candidate for the Vatican throne.
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David Bongailas
Mela l-ewwel kelna il-buzzieqa tal-pipeline. Liema bizzieqa infaqghet ghax issa flus bizzejjed mill-EU mhux gejjin. Imbghad kelna il-buzzieqa tal-finanzi fis-sod u ta'Angela Merkel li infaqghet wara id-downgrade minn standard's and poor's. Imbghad il-buzzieqa ta'Anglu Farrugia li ghaxart ijiem ilu fill-Mosta il-PM tant ammira. Imbghad jigi Simon Busutill jahseb jista jitla fuq kolonna u jaghti l-ordnijiet lill-partit oppost ta' min ghandu jirrezenja u min ma ghandux.
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Dr Busuttil, jekk ikun hemm xi alla fil-parlament Nazzjonalist u meta jigi biex ihallas dak li huwa dovut juza il-poter tieghu biex ibezzgha u ma iggibx id-dokumenti mehtiega li jigi mitlub minn xi impjegat tal-Gvern dak x'ikun qed jaghmel? u jekk dan l-istess persuna tmur ghand hadd iehor li taf li mhux sejjer jaghmel xoghol sew ghaliex jew ikun jadura lil dik il-persuna jew jaghmel xoghol addocc dan x'ikun qed jaghmel??
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PN's efforts to make a mountain out of this mini molehill, smack of arrogance and outright stupidity and are just another devious attempt to divert attention from the huge mountain of PN corruption that is overshadowing this election campaign. Having failed with Anglu Farrugia, they have now turned the guns on Toni Abela - hoping to garner some election points in the process. Unfortunately this is all backfiring on the PN as now, even the staunchest PN supporters must be realising that the PN re-election campaign is solely based on scaremongering and outright lies. Well, nothing new here - remember the Mistra scandal of 2008?
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INT MHUX WICC TA NAZZJONALIST GHANDEK, IMMA WICC TA EGOIST, U TA MISKIN XMUN
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INT MHUX WICC TA NAZZJONALIST GHANDEK, IMMA WICC TA EGOIST, U TA MISKIN
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Allura taghnna biss irridu jirrezenjaw, ja landa mimli vomtu, ara ghall taghkhom issibu kull skuza, isthi jekk taf
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"morally bankrupt", of all people would it be Simple Simon that wants to keep digging holes in water for this insignificant episode, in which a lawyer is correcting the legal views of an officer. Probably repeated many, many times by lawyers from both sides of the political divide. I wonder what Simple Simon has to say on the assumed €50/€60 MILLIONS in commission siphoned off OIL purchases by insiders and their acolytes; and the GonziPN's insistence to keep Malta dependent on oil for its fuel.
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"The Zarb case concerns a political statement, and not a criminal act," Busuttil replied. But isn't trading in influence a crime?
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If Busuttil had to apply his (oh, so strict)yardstick to his own colleagues, I think that he'd end up having to recruit a fresh team of candidates (including a PM and several ministers to boot)!Perhaps he should start cleaning out his own stables first.
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Issa insejinha ta Anglu , ser naqbdu ma Abela issa , dejjem jippruvaw inessu l-akbar korruzjoni li qatt rat Malta ,ta Zejt. Allahares kull tilwima li tinqala tmur il qorti !! Uil kwistjoni kollha kienet fuq bdil ta katnazz ta 10 ews. Ara fejn jithlu il miljuni L-ghasfur tal bejt ma jmurx jitlob ir rezenja . Jekk jigi sa Ta` Qali flloghoba football isir jaf kemm jirangaw affarijiet il pulizija minhajr ma jarrestaw lil hadd . Issa nahseb li kullhadd barra dawk li jiehdu ftiet ta nifs b`dawn ic cucati iddejejq u iddardar.
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Saviour Balza was right. Simon busuttil is famous for words but no substance. I WILL VOTE LABOUR THIS TIME.
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Can anyone provide us with a video recording of the pole dancers, to counteract the voice recording of Abela, I am sure it would be more interesting.
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Tkellem il-bidillu. Issa mhux Farrugia imma Abela. Dejjem tigikhom warda biex tibqaw ghaddejin fil-kampanja. Tiehdu gost taghmlu l-konferenzi stampi u issemmu l-Muscat. Hemm lista itwal ta' nies fuq skandli li affaetwaw l-ekeonomija ta' Malta u xahmu l-bwiet u dawn ghadhom hdejk Sur Busutill
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The PN has many years ago lost the Moral High ground. and how would he like someone to call him intellectually Bankrupt.
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What does Simon call the A.G. letters then? and the 600 euro a week rise.
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Sur Simnom Busittil biex il-partit tieghek jiskongra jrid ikun pur. Kaz tipiku li kien gara snin ilu meta pulizija waqqaf lil xi hadd ghax kien qieghed jaghmel kontravenzjoni tat-traffiku u waqaf hdejn dak iz-zmien kien il-Kap ta' l-Oppozizzjoni Dr. Fenech Adami u qallu lill-individwu: Hawn jien mur. Dak indhil u anke ntimidazzjoni. U sa fejn naf jien mhux talli Dr. Fenech Adami ma rrezinjax talli mbaghad lahaq Prim Ministru u spicca lahaq ukoll President. U jekk nigu ghar-rizenji intom il-kultura tar-rizenji triduha fuq haddiehor imma ghalikom din ma tezistix ghax allavolja jkun hemm l-iswed fuq l-abjad jigifieri car daqs il-kristall xorta ma tirrezinjawx u tispiccaw imkeccija bhal ma gara dan l-ahhar fil-Parlament tkeccew zewgt irjus minn taghkom kbar RCC u Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici. Ara fuq il-kwistjoni taz-zejt diga qeghdin tghidu li r-rizenji forsi jsiru wara l-investigazzjoni meta diga l-bicca xoghol qed tidher sewwa l-A. G. Aust u ministru ghal min jirreferu imma intom tibqghu tiddefendu lil taghkom u taghmlu minn kollox biex tkissru lil haddiehor ghax b'kumbinazzjoni issa lejliet l-elezzjoni tfaccaw 3 recordings. Sur Busuttil dur dawra mal-gnien tieghek l-ewwel u ghandek ftit sigar li kibru z-zejjed izborhom u mbaghad ghid lil haddiehor biex jizbor lil tieghu.