Meeting businesspeople part of my job, Delia says of Yorgen Fenech meeting

Opposition leader Adrian Delia would not confirm or deny the presence of Pierre Portelli at a meeting he had with Yorgen Fenech, citing Portelli’s privacy in a televised interview this morning.

Delia refused to confirm the exact date or details of the meeting with the Tumas magnate, accused of masterminding the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia, during which he has been alleged of being offered money to ensure incumbent MEP David Casa is not re-elected in the European elections of 2019.

The allegation was made by Melvin Theuma, who turned State’s evidence to testify against Fenech and the men he engaged to carry out the execution of Caruana Galizia by car bomb.

Delia is said to have been with his chief ally, the former head of the PN media Pierre Portelli, at a dinner in Fenech’s Zebbug ranch when the offer of some €50,000 in case was made.

In the interview on PN media, conducted by ONE news journalist Nicole Buttigieg, Delia was asked when it was that he had met Yorgen Fenech. He said he didn’t remember the precise date of the meeting but confirmed that he had met Fenech as part of his duties. “Meeting businessmen is the work of the Leader of the Opposition,” he said.

Asked point blank whether Pierre Portelli was there, Delia said he “was not going to mention private persons,” despite Portelli being a PN official at the time.

“I definitely didn’t meet Fenech after he was mentioned with regards to 17 Black,” Delia asserted. “I never met him after that or took money from him. You know who met him? Keith Schembri,” he said.

Delia expressed disbelief at the fact that the PL was saying that Konrad Mizzi, who is in government, had a part in an energy deal with someone accused of murder is normal, but simply meeting with businessmen is bad.

“I never met with someone implicated in a criminal action,” insisted the PN leader, arguing that he had met Fenech as part of a delegation of businessmen as part of his duties.

“If it was an important event I would remember, but this was a meeting with many businessmen, my job.”

Answering another direct question, he said that Yorgen Fenech had no “cedoli” loan with the PN, referring to the party’s controversial funding vehicle.