[WATCH] PAC forced to take break after meeting falls into hysterics again

The public accounts committee (PAC) had to pause its hearing after former Labour energy minister Konrad Mizzi lashed out at Karol Aquilina and his recent dangerous driving charges.

Mizzi was giving an oral presentation on the Electrogas project, which he spearheaded as minister, when his testimony turned rowdy.

Ryan Callus, a PN MP, mentioned the price of LNG and remarked on the fact that Malta’s LNG agreement with Electrogas saw it purchase LNG at a higher-than-market price for several years due to the fixed-price nature of the agreement.

Mizzi defended the agreement, mentioning that LNG is now six times higher than the price being paid by Enemalta currently.

The conversation then turned to Montenegro wind farm scandal, which the Opposition MPs said was part of Malta’s energy mix. Mizzi said that Enemalta was merely a minority shareholder in the project.

“The Montenegro project is another corrupt deal with your fingerprints all over it,” PAC chairman Beppe Fenech Adami commented.

Things quickly went downhill from here. “If you want to talk about corruption, look at the Nationalist Party before 2013,” Mizzi remarked.

He then turned to Karol Aquilina. “When things don’t go your way you start stomping your feet,” Mizzi said.

He mentioned Aquilina’s recent dangerous driving charges, over which he was acquitted, and questioned why police didn’t testify in his case.

“Why didn’t they appeal the verdict?” Mizzi shouted. “You’re guilty! Everyone saw the video.”

It was at this point that the PAC paused for a small break.

The hysterics didn’t stop after the break. Opposition MPs asked Mizzi why the Labour Party parliamentary group booted him out after the Montengro wind farm scandal relevations.

Later on, the same MPs questioned Mizzi on Enemalta’s contract with Electrogas, which tied the energy provider to a fixed-price supply of LNG.

This contract came under fire after it was revealed that Socar was supplying LNG to Electrogas at a €40 million profit by purchasing it from Shell.

Mizzi defended the agreement, explaining that the fixed hedging agreement helped cushion Malta against price fluctuations in the energy market.

“Interconnector prices increased by 40% since 2017. No newspaper ‘spin’ can change this,” he said.

Mizzi emphasised that Malta needed an electricity mix. He said that Italy had teased Malta on cutting off its electricity supply to the islands if there was no political cooperation on the immigration issue.

“You can’t be dependent. Sovereign countries have their security of supply,” he said.