Austin Gatt and Toni Abela issues ‘completely different’ – Borg Olivier

Paul Borg Olivier insists that calls for Toni Abela’s resignation ‘completely different’ from calls for Minister Austin Gatt's resignation over involvement in George Farrugia meetings.

Nationalist Party general secretary Paul Borg Olivier, Nationalist MP Karl Gouder, Nationalist MP Beppe Fenech Adami
Nationalist Party general secretary Paul Borg Olivier, Nationalist MP Karl Gouder, Nationalist MP Beppe Fenech Adami

Nationalist Party secretary general Paul Borg Olivier reiterated the Nationalist Party's calls for Labour deputy leader Toni Abela to resign over his involvement in recordings unveiled either this week on grounds of "ethical, moral, and political responsibility."

The call follows in the wake of a second recording, circulated through sock puppet YouTube channel 'kristianbuhagiar', in which Abela is heard talking about a drugs incident inside another party club and why he did not lodge a police report on the issue.

Nationalist MP David Agius has admitted to knowing about the case since October 2010, and informing Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, who instructed him to report the case to the police. No legal action has since been taken against Abela.

Flanked by Nationalist Party MP Beppe Fenech Adami, Borg Olivier insisted that the latest recording prove that Abela was aware of potential drug-related offences, and failed to report the case or force the person who knew to report it himself.

He also called on the Labour Party to reveal which is the Party club in question, insisting that the public has a right to know which club could be involved in drug-related offences.

Borg Olivier also aired clips showing Labour deputy leader Louis Grech and candidate Manwel Mallia saying that they would have acted differently to Abela, using this as a platform to reiterate the PN's challenge to labour leader Joseph Muscat on whether he would keep defending Abela.

Borg Olivier also challenged Muscat to confirm Abela's statements in an interview published that day, where the Labour deputy leader said that he did not report the drug find in the Labour club to Labour Leader Joseph Muscat.

Both Borg Olivier and Fenech Adami drove home the Nationalist Party's message that Abela was "duty-bound" to report the case to the police, and accused him of acting solely in the interest of the Labour committee and the Labour party.

"Twice he has fallen short of his political responsibilities, the first when he asked a Labourite policeman to hold off an investigation, the second when he admitted that he knew of a case of drugs in a Labour club, and did nothing about it," Borg Olivier said.

However asked by MaltaToday whether, by the same reasoning, Minister Austin Gatt should resign, given Gatt's involvement in the ongoing Enemalta corruption kickbacks scandal, Borg Olivier insisted that the two cases are "completely differently."

Without explaing where the difference lies, Borg Olivier launched into an attack against the Labour Party, insisting that the calls for Gatt's resignation "show the Labour Party's contradictions."

He said that Gatt is being resigned "over something that he did not know about" while the PL and labour leader Joseph Muscat "are defending someone who confirmed he knew."

Borg Olivier also categorically denied that the Abela recordings were unearthed by the Nationalist Party to overshadow the unfolding Enemalta oil scandal, in the course of which Austin Gatt has already made statements to the Police Commissioner.

"It is totally incorrect," Borg Olivier insisted.

Borg Olivier however dodged questions asking why the Nationalist Party chose to remain quiet about the issue for two years only to come out with guns blazing three weeks before the election, given Prim Minister Lawrence Gonzi knew of the recordings since October 2010.

"The Prime Minister was informed of what David Agius told him," Borg Olivier said.

"The point is not this," Borg Olivier however added. "The point is that David Agius reported the issue to the Police Commissioner and made a statement."

Borg Olivier took the opportunity to reinforce the Nationalist Party's and respect in police investigations but however insisted "if one is in possession of information it is in the interest of justice one should make a report. That is what the PN did."

"The issue did not emerge now to obscure something else," Borg Olivier insisted, pointing to the ongoing court case, and the manner in which Abela's statements emerged as part of the testimony.

"The case was not deferred by some PN manoeuvring. It was a case that is proceeding and being heard in court on 8 February, and it was through the testimony of a witness that all this was revealed."

Borg Olivier however sidestepped the fact that the recordings themselves that were uploaded on a sock-puppet account on Youtube and alter circulated through Nationalist media, were not related to the ongoing court case.

In fact, asked whether he knew the identity of the account holder, Borg Olivier denied all knowledge. "I do not know this person."

"So it is not a question of timing, or why it did not emerge two years ago, and why it emerged two years later instead. The issue is that there was a witness who revealed this information," Borg Olivier insisted.

Asked whether, in the PN's view, Toni Abela had committed any illegalities, Nationalist MP Beppe Fenech Adami delivered a lawyer's answer: "We are not here to talk about what is legal and what is not, but what is correct."

"We are not in court. The question should be: When Toni Abela found out that someone was trafficking heroin or cocaine in a Labour club, did he do well? It is correct that a party deputy leader, to protect the interests of his committee, covers up this criminal offence? I think that I the question."

"The people who are following us don't care about legalisms," Fenech Adami claimed, insisting that the public is more concerned about whether potentially the next deputy prime minister intentionally covered up a potential drug offence.

Fenech Adami also insisted that Labour was adopting a "two weights, two measures" approach, where despite how former deputy leader Anglu Farrugia was called upon to resign after a comment regarding he judiciary, Abela is being defended despite the recent revelations.

Paul Borg also fielded questions regarding his much-reported fateful trip abroad aboard development magnate Zaren Vassallo. Asked whether he would do it again, Borg Olivier is unrepentant.

"If I knew then that there would have been all this fuss about it, I would have avoided it - even if I think that I don't think that I did anything wrong."

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Issa billi PBO jaghmel il-libelli lill min kixef xi haga pubblika li kien qal u xhed fil-Qorti l-eks Sindku ta’ Tas-Sliema, Nikki Dimech, li PBO kien cempillu biex igeghlu jaghzel l-iskema tal-iskart tal-GreenMT u jiffirma l-kuntratt li kien jiswa ‘l fuq minn Miljun Ewro. Nikki baqa’ qatt ma ffirma l-kuntratt kif issuggerilu PBO. Meta saret Sindku Joanna Gonzi, il-kugina tal-Prim Ministru, dejjem kif zvelaw zewg kunsillieri li din min-naha taghha qabdet u ffirmat il-kuntratt mal-GreenMT minghajr ma resqitu quddiem il-Kunsill ghall-approvazzjoni. Din hija serjissima u PBO ghandu jirrizenja minnufih u mhux joqghod jitlob ghar-rizenja ta’ Toni Abela fuq kwistjoni purament civili. Li ghamel PBO huwa kundannabbli, tixhim u korruzzjoni. Il-Pulizija, id-Dipartiment tal-Kunsilli Lokali jmisshom ilhom li ghamlu l-investigazzjonijiet taghhom u mhux fuq persuni ohra qaghdu jissemmghu t-tetefonati u hadu l-passi kontrihom. Mela l-gustizzja mhux ghal kulhadd l-istess qeghda????
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Issa billi PBO jaghmel il-libelli lill min kixef xi haga pubblika li kien qal u xhed fil-Qorti l-eks Sindku ta’ Tas-Sliema, Nikki Dimech, li PBO kien cempillu biex igeghlu jaghzel l-iskema tal-iskart tal-GreenMT u jiffirma l-kuntratt li kien jiswa ‘l fuq minn Miljun Ewro. Nikki baqa’ qatt ma ffirma l-kuntratt kif issuggerilu PBO. Meta saret Sindku Joanna Gonzi, il-kugina tal-Prim Ministru, dejjem kif zvelaw zewg kunsillieri li din min-naha taghha qabdet u ffirmat il-kuntratt mal-GreenMT minghajr ma resqitu quddiem il-Kunsill ghall-approvazzjoni. Din hija serjissima u PBO ghandu jirrizenja minnufih u mhux joqghod jitlob ghar-rizenja ta’ Toni Abela fuq kwistjoni purament civili. Li ghamel PBO huwa kundannabbli, tixhim u korruzzjoni. Il-Pulizija, id-Dipartiment tal-Kunsilli Lokali jmisshom ilhom li ghamlu l-investigazzjonijiet taghhom u mhux fuq persuni ohra qaghdu jissemmghu t-tetefonati u hadu l-passi kontrihom. Mela l-gustizzja mhux ghal kulhadd l-istess qeghda????
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Dr Pawlu (Paprati) Borg Olivier woke up at last to discover that the two cases are different . In the case of Dr Tony Abela , there is no case , and even the police said that there is no case . So that Pawlu Paprati keeps hammering on this case , will makes him look more stupid . Contrary to that of Austin Gatt , not only there is a case but there is olso proof of a scandal which is colaborated by thousands of Emails .
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Dr Pawlu (Paprati) Borg Olivier woke up at last to discover that the two cases are different . In the case of Dr Tony Abela , there is no case , and even the police said that there is no case . So that Pawlu Paprati keeps hammering of this case , will makes him look more stupid . Contrary to that of Austin Gatt , not only there is a case but there is olso proof of a scandal which is colaborated by thousands of Emails .
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Insara Maltin! Laqtuni dawn iz-zewg sentenzi mill-pastorali... "X'jiswa, ħuti, li wieħed jgħid li għandu l-fidi jekk ma jurihiex fl-għemil tiegħu?... Alla jistedinna biex aħna l-insara nuru l-imħabba tagħna permezz tal-Fidi.” Irriflettejt. Smajt rikording ta’ Dr Toni Abela fuq ir-radju “Ghandi Xi Nghid” http://www.divshare.com/download/23734388-989. Nemmen li kieku kien fil-gudizzju l-istess kien jghid, ghax ghemilu mimli fidi. Segwejt ukoll lil dawk li xlewh u tkexkixt. Fil-gudizzju dawn ha jiftahru kemm eluf ta’ drabi marru l-knisja u tqarbnu. Nitlob lill-isqfijiet biex jaghmlu pastorali fuq l-oqbra mbajda, l-ipokrezija u l-iskandli ghax nemmen li jekk il-Knisja ma ccanfarx li min qed jinqeda biha, l-emorogija “li hemm diversi fostna li qegħdin jinqatgħu mill-komunità nisranija u mill-Quddiesa” hemm ha tibqa.
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Of course the two matters are completely different! This must be the only sensible statement made by Paul Borg Olivier since he has been Secretary General of the PN. Who can compare what goes on in a village political club to the most sensational corruption scandal in the modern history of Malta?
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It is meaningless at this point in time for Austin Gatt to resign, unless his defender Gonzi resigns as well. What would be more useful for the Maltese public is to know what George Farrugia has to say now that he has been granted the conditional Presidential Pardon. Or will he be asked to do that after the elections?
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BTW couldn't agree more with PBO - the cases are completly different. How can one compare the worst scandal ever to come to light on the Maltese Islands with what is clearly a smoke screen? PBO all of Malta and Gozo wants Austin Gatt to admit to political responsability and truly leave the political scene forever - starting from yesterday.
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Dr Borg Olivier misses the point: it is not PL that want Gatt to resign but man in the street and they have wanted this for more than a year. Is it possible that Borg Olivier is so cut off from the public that this has been the public view and that of editorials and opinion writers for nearly a year and he has not realised this? And Fenech Adami has to be very careful about his term in office for despite the fact that his government was found guilty by the courts of discrimination in several hundred cases, documented in his own answer to a Parliamentary Question, he did not feel it his moral duty to resign. And it was during his leadership that automatic weapons were found hidden away at PN headquarters. The politicians have the right to talk. Leave the talking to public opinion please.
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Mr Paul Borg Olivier when are you going to learn not to open your mouth and stick your foot in it? And now to make matters worse you are dragging Mr Beppe Fenech Adami down with you. How on earth can you compare the Abela incident with the oil bribery incident? These are two different cases and the bribery case takes the cake and there is really no comparison whatsoever. If Mr Abela knew of a crime and did not report it then he is wrong and he should be punished for it, amen. The bribery case involves the whole country and all honest and hard working Maltese citizens. If you really think that Mr Abela committed a crime then file a report with the police but please like I told your leader, don't treat the Maltese people like a bunch of imbeciles. we can tell the seriousness of both these incidents. Stop mixing apples with oranges. I think you can do that, can't you.
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Anette B Cassar
"If I knew then that there would have been all this fuss about it, I would have avoided it - even if I think that I don't think that I did anything wrong." - What a pathetic answer from a pathetic man. If it was wrong it was wrong whether there would be a fuss or not.
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2 weights and 2 measures... I guess you must be talking about yourself Paul. Aust good - Toni bad- this must be your mantra. It was interesting to note Paul's discomfort when asked about Buhagiar and when questioned about a murder weapon found in the Marsaxlokk PN club.
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Luke Camilleri
Colpo di genio ghal Borg Olivier - INDUNA li huma zewg kazi differenti! ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Xejn affattu...meta jkompli jpatpat nindunaw li L'istess baqa' jhid il-paprati bhal soltu! ~~~~~~~~~~~ Jien kont nitlob REZENJA bil merti tal-PN li itolbu rizenju minn ghand kullhadd hlief minn taghhom LILL KUMMISSARJU TAL-PULUZIJA li ma nvestigax u ha passi kif kellu l'inoformazzjoni fit 2010! ~~~~~~~~~~~ GHALHIEX MA SARITX L'INVESTIGAZZJONI? Hemm xi hadd fil Korp li trid tghaffaslu il-buttuna biex jinvestiga??????