Edward Scicluna was ‘spineless or complicit’ in face of government corruption, Opposition accuses Finance Minister

Edward Scicluna was either “spineless or complicit” in Joseph Muscat’s administration despite now complaining that it was run by an inner core, Mario de Marco said.

The Opposition finance spokesperson was reacting to the testimony given by the Finance Minister in the Daphne Caruana Galizia public inquiry on Wednesday.

Scicluna testified how he was not part of the decision makers in the inner core of Muscat’s administration and was not involved in the largest deals undertaken by government that are all under the spotlight because of corruption allegations.

But De Marco lambasted Scicluna because it was on his watch that the “worst scandal-ridden legislature in history” engaged in shady deals that cost taxpayers millions of euros in lost money.

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“Edward Scicluna now rails against the fact that decisions were taken by an inner core, which he was excluded from, ignoring the most obvious fact that as a Finance Minister he would have signed off on most of these shady deals. He had every opportunity to express his dissatisfaction by voting accordingly but failed to do so, repeatedly. He moreover repeatedly voted his confidence in Joseph Muscat and the ‘inner circle’ composed of Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri that he now laments of,” De Marco hit back.

The Opposition spokesperson said Scicluna’s justification as to why he toed the party line to support Mizzi and Schembri, also beggared belief.

“His justification today, incredibly, seemed to hint that having foregone a more remunerative job in Brussels, it was not in his interest to vote out corruption and abuse if such action would have entailed a resignation. Money before principles,” De Marco said.

De Marco added that Scicluna’s attempts to detach himself from Muscat now confirm that he is “at best, spineless and at worst, the actions were taken with his blessing”.