Nationalist MEP hits out at PM's claims of 2012 cooperation over Tonio Borg nomination

Nationalist MEP David Casa has struck out against claims by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, who told TVM’s Dissett on Wednesday that he used his influence in the socialist group in the European Parliament to curry support for Tonio Borg’s nomination to European Commissioner.

Borg was nominated in the aftermath of the resignation of John Dalli in October 2012, and according to Muscat, then prime minister Lawrence Gonzi wanted to ensure the conservative candidate would not get a rough ride from European socialists.

Muscat claimed on Dissett he knew that Borg’s nomination was pre-empting Simon Busuttil’s ascent to the deputy leadership of the PN, and said he would not have cooperated had he shown Busuttil’s lack of bipartisanship spirit.

“It has become common knowledge that our Prime Minister has a loose relationship with the truth,” David Casa said in a statement from Brussels today. “But the assertion that he somehow secured socialist support for Tonio Borg’s nomination to the European Commission is a heinous lie.”

The Labour Party reacted by reproducing footage of comments given by Busuttil - then MEP - and Borg confirming that all six Maltese MEPs supported his nomination.

Labour: David Casa 'is a proven liar'

"Of particular note is Simon Busuttil’s quote," the Labour Party commented, and goes on to quote Busuttil: “Malta’s national unity won the day, all six (Maltese MEPs) worked in favour (of Tonio Borg) and did our utmost to bring everyone in favour... I salute and publicly thank Louis Grech who worked a lot to achieve the result we have today.”

Borg personally thanked Muscat, then Opposition leader, who “helped a lot to achieve this result”.

But Borg was voted in with 386 votes in favour, 281 against and 28 abstentions. Casa published a press statement by the S&D Group that said that a two-thirds majority had voted not to support Tonio Borg as Commissioner. As stated then by Hannes Swoboda, President of the S&D Group, commented: "The S&D Group acknowledges Mr Borg's performance during his hearing and took note of his declaration that his personal views would not interfere with his duties as Commissioner, if appointed. But gender equality and the rights of women and homosexuals are still under fire from a part of Europe's right wing and the S&D Group wants to see the position filled by someone with a track record on respecting and furthering these rights." 

Casa claimed that the Labour Party attempted to undermine Tonio Borg’s candidacy at every turn. “The official Socialist position was to vote against Tonio Borg and in fact, the majority of them did. Tonio Borg was approved because he was able to demonstrate competence and integrity. He was approved despite the underhanded, albeit amateur, maneuvers of the labour party.”

In 2012, Borg said that Simon Busuttil and David Casa had met individual MEPs from the Socialist, Liberal and Conservative groups to convince them to give their vote to Malta’s nominee. “As soon as the Socialists decided to take a position against Dr Borg, we started phoning all the MEPs we knew from the other groups to assure them he is a reliable person and can be given this job,” Simon Busuttil had then said.

“David (Casa) dealt with the conservatives, and managed to win many of them over, while I took on the Socialists and Liberals. I think that we managed to deliver a good result, against all odds,” he said.

Simon Busuttil had also said that the four Labour MEPs also played their part in the past weeks to help Dr Borg “and it was unfortunate that the majority of the Socialist MEPs didn’t take their side.”

Casa today also said that it was a lie that only the EPP Group was taking issue with the Prime Minister’s Panama Papers scandal. “Leo Brincat, for instance, was rejected by MEPs from across the political spectrum, including a number of Socialists, because any connection to the Prime Minister’s Panama Papers scandal is toxic. Toxic in relation to the individuals involved and more importantly toxic to Malta. The damage that is being done is immeasurable.”