[WATCH] Carmelo Abela must resign from Cabinet pending police investigation, PN insists

Nationalist Party spokesperson Beppe Fenech Adami says Minister Carmelo Abela must resign from Cabinet following reports that police are investigating his alleged involvement in the 2010 HSBC heist

PN MP Beppe Fenech Adami (left) and candidate Mark-Anthony Sammut say Carmelo Abela should resign from minister
PN MP Beppe Fenech Adami (left) and candidate Mark-Anthony Sammut say Carmelo Abela should resign from minister

The Nationalist Party is insisting that Minister Carmelo Abela must resign from his Cabinet post following reports that police are investigating claims he was an accomplice in the failed heist on HSBC Bank in 2010.

“It's unthinkable that we have a government minister who has retained his post after being investigated over his alleged involvement in the heist,” Nationalist MP Beppe Fenech Adami said on Monday.

MaltaToday reported on Sunday the new police investigation started after Abela was publicly linked by Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi to allegations made by Daphne Caruana Galizia hitmen Vince Muscat and Alfred Degiorgio.

The minister, who at the time of the heist worked as a senior insurance and statistics officer within the bank’s Department of Security, Health and Safety, has denied any involvement and initiated libel proceedings against Azzopardi.

Fenech Adami said in no other democratic country does a minister stay on after faced with such allegations.

He also said that Carmelo Abela “lying” about forgetting that he had testified behind closed doors in February 2011, is reason alone for him to pen his resignation.

“Should he not do that, Prime Minister Robert Abela must step in, shoulder political responsibility and remove him,” Fenech Adami said.

He also accused the PM of applying two weights and two measures when dealing with his MPs’ allegations.

“He told Justyne Caruana to resign because of her former husband’s alleged involvement in the Caruana Galizia investigations; he told Rosianne Cutajar to resign because she is under investigation by the Standards Commissioner; and yet he goes out of his way to defend Carmelo Abela. Why?” Fenech Adami asked.

PN candidate Mark Anthony Sammut said the PM’s handling of his MPs shows the low standards which the Labour Party has adopted in government.

“Our position is simple, Carmelo Abela’s post is no longer tenable,” Sammut said.

Fenech Adami was asked whether the party would be retaining the same standards it is demanding from government, should it be in government, in light of Toni Bezzina’s refusal to stepdown from party spokesperson after he was faced with a police investigation into allegations of corruption.

“We are saying that Carmelo Abela is part of the executive, who is part of cabinet, who take the most important decisions... I think you understand the difference between having such an important role, and being an MP,” Fenech Adami said.