‘I always acted with integrity’: Edward Zammit Lewis defends jobs-for-voters offer from Yorgen Fenech

Having occasionally asked Yorgen Fenech for help finding jobs for his constituents, Justice Minister Edward Zammit Lewis has defended his position while trying to maintain himself as a “representative of the people”.

“I always try to guide my constituents so that they could find work adapted to them, in order to support them and their families,” he wrote on Facebook. “As a representative of the people, I have a duty to help wherever possible within the limits of what is right.”

The minister insisted that he always acted with integrity and honesty while in public office, and added that he intends to continue to do so.

“I intend to continue to do so for one reason only: because I love the Labour Party too much and because I believe in people’s politics and that the Labour Party is the only option for the good of the Maltese and Gozitan people.”

He declared that on Thursday he will be at his Birkirkara office to continue meeting his constituents while trying to be of support to others.

Early on Monday, the Times of Malta reported that Zammit Lewis would occasionally ask Yorgen Fenech for help in finding jobs for people who had sent a CV to the tourism ministry.

But in 2019, Fenech made a more direct offer to give jobs within his Tumas empire to Zammit Lewis’s supporters.

The cosy relationship between Yorgen Fenech and Edward Zammit Lewis was thrown into the spotlight after leaked Whatsapp chats showed the minister disparagingly describing Labour voters as “Ġaħan Laburist” to the business magnate.

In fact, Zammit Lewis dined, chatted, and went on a boat trip with Yorgen Fenech – but all this was done “in good faith”, he said while testifying in the Daphne Caruana Galizia public inquiry.

Fenech is in fact facing charges for masterminding the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. His charges hinge on the testimony of middleman Melvin Theuma, who was granted a presidential pardon to tell all about the murder.