[WATCH] PN MPs coy on Robert Arrigo claims against Bernard Grech: ‘There is no issue’

Opposition MP Ivan J. Bartolo has said there are no issues between the Nationalist Party and former deputy leader Robert Arrigo. 

“I think there is no issue. The fact that he says he was hurt is normal in a work place. I believe wherever you work, there will always be moments when you get hurt,” he said. 

Since he was replaced as PN deputy leader, Robert Arrigo has accused Bernard Grech of lying in a television interview over an internal investigation on the Naxxar mayor’s behaviour.

In an unceremonious post on his Facebook page, Arrigo said the Nationalist Party leader lied when asked about the outcome of the investigation into Anne Marie Muscat Fenech Adami on TVM News Plus’s Xtra at the start of June. In a statement, Grech denied the claims.

This was the second time in a space of a few days that Arrigo had criticised Grech’s leadership of the party.

The Saturday before, at the end of the general council during which Alex Perici Calascione was confirmed deputy leader, Arrigo complained over how he was side-lined in the election campaign. He indicated two incidents when party functionaries stopped him from entering a PN club and asked him to stay with the crowd during a mass meeting.

Questioned on Arrigo’s criticism of the party leader, Bartolo first suggested that, if he were a journalist, he would be investigating former PM Joseph Muscat’s criticism on the country’s institutions. 

After he said that he believes there was no issue with Arrigo. 

“There are those who speak out when they are hurt, and there are those who keep it to themselves,” Bartolo said. 

Questioned further, Castillo said the PN was always transparent with the electorate. 

“We say what we feel and think openly and with transparency. When you have a family, you will always find those who agree and disagree with each other,” he said. “At the end of the day I will continue working to ensure that the PN continues moving forward.”