Thake distances himself from PN denial it was offered money by Yorgen Fenech

Nationalist MP David Thake calls on the party to investigate allegations that Yorgen Fenech offered money to stop David Casa’s re-election, says statement denying the claim is leadership's responsibility

Nationalist MP David Thake is standing by questions he raised last year over information he had received that Yorgen Fenech offered €50,000 to the PN to prevent David Casa from being elected.

The claim was reiterated today by middleman Melvin Theuma in the Daphne Caruana Galizia public inquiry.

The PN has denied the claim.

Thake called for the matter to be investigated by the police and the PN.

“I will be calling on the party to launch an internal investigation into the issue,” he said, when contacted over the PN's denial.

On Wednesday evening, the PN categorically denied receiving any offer or payment to block Casa’s bid for re-election into the European Parliament. The party was reacting to claims made by Melvin Theuma, the middleman in Daphne Caruana Galizia's murder, that Fenech once told him that he had offered the PN money to stop Casa from being elected to the European Parliament.

Asked for his reaction to the party’s statement, Thake stood by the questions he had raised on current affairs programme Xarabank in June 2019.

Back then, he had accused the PN of being too close to Electrogas shareholder and 17 Black owner Yorgen Fenech, asking Adrian Delia whether a party official had been offered €50,000 to make sure MEP David Casa is not re-elected.

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Delia had said he was unaware of this, and told Thake to file a report with the police.

A year later, the issue has re-emerged with Theuma's testimony, confirming Thake's claim.

“It is the PN leadership who will shoulder the responsibility of the statement,” Thake told MaltaToday on Wednesday evening. “The question now arises: if the offer was not made in an official manner to the PN, to who was it offered?”

Asked if he would be calling on the PN’s parliamentary group to discuss the issue, Thake said that he has no right to impose such a decision on the party.

“There are people who take those decisions, and I will not be speaking on what is discussed in the parliamentary group,” he said.

Thake said that it is up to the party to get to the bottom of the issue. “If a payment was made, where did the money go?” he asked.

Asked whether party officials should be asked to present a sworn affidavit that they never received such an offer personally, Thake said it is not up to him to take such a decision.

“The country must not allow these things to happen, no matter which side they come from,” he insisted.

On Wednesday morning, middleman Melvin Theuma told a public inquiry that mastermind Yorgen Fenech had offered money to the PN in an effort to stop David Casa’s re-election as MEP.

"Yorgen Fenech told me that he had offered money to the PN not to elect David Casa [ostensibly in the European Parliament election]. But I never asked him what was wrong about 17 Black,” Theuma testified.

Theuma said Yorgen Fenech had told him that David Casa was picking on him over 17 Black.