PN boycotts health committee after Rosianne Cutajar appointed chairperson

The Nationalist Party is boycotting the parliamemtary health committee, after the government appointed as its chairman the Labour MP Rosianne Cutajar, who is implicated in an ethics breach.

The PN said there had been no agreement by government and Opposition on the appointment on the appointment of Cutajar, two months after being found guilty of an ethics breach.

“Robert Abela showed blatant disregard of the institutions by appointing Cutajar after she was forced to resign her Cabinet post. This shows what to expect if Robert Abela wins the next election,” the PN said.

In December 2020, MaltaToday had revealed that the then junior minister for equality Rosianne Cutajar and her political aide were alleged to have received some €100,000 in brokers’ fees for the sale of a €3.1 million Mdina property to Yorgen Fenech – the magnate accused of masterminding the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia. She was an MP at the time of the alleged brokerage.

In November 2021, following an investigation by the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life, government and Opposition MPs on the standards committee accepted the conclusions of a report that found Rosianne Cutajar breached ethics when failing to declare income from a property deal for Yorgen Fenech.

The PN reiterated its position that Cutajar was unfit for public office and emphasised she should not be promoted to such a role. It stated it would not be participating in the committee, saying Cutajar is “unqualified for this position”.

“The PN will also remain focused on working hard to enact an unprecedented 12 Bills that fight corruption, financial crime and the mafia to help make sure the Labour government does not get away with murder.”

In reaction, the Labour Party said there was no doubt PN leader Bernard Grech was not in control of his party.

It said the PN’s boycott of the committee came 12 hours after NGO Repubblika “had told Grech to object to Cutajar’s appointment... Repubblika had expressed its disappointment that PN had not objected to the appointment initially.”

“Rosianne Cutajar paid a political price with her resignation from the executive. So the actions of the PN today are proof they only want to sabotage and not propose actions,” the PL said.