Abela hits out at 'hypocrisy and vindictiveness' of PN's Vitals damages case

Former Deputy Prime Minister Minister Chris Fearne need not have resigned after being charged, together with others, with fraud and misappropriation, Prime Minister Robert Abela said on Saturday.

In an interview with the Labour party-owned media station, ONE, Abela was asked about a recent Cabinet statement, which expressed support for Fearne, in the wake of news reports that funds intended for the hospitals concession had been diverted by Steward Healthcare to pay private intelligence firms engaged by the American company to smear key opponents and critics, amongst them Fearne, who was Health Minister at the time.

Steward Healthcare's campaign came to light this week following the publication of an investigation conducted by OCCRP and the Times of Malta. Abela said it was “shocking that someone had tried to carry out such a vicious and senseless attack” on Fearne,  and praised his service to the country. Abela told the interviewer that he had immediately instructed the Justice Minister to ascertain whether any of the amounts which Malta had paid to Steward under the concession agreement had been used to finance the attack on Fearne and to raise the matter during the international arbitration proceedings that Steward had filed against Malta, if so.

“Everything that should have been done has been done,” with regards to this issue, said Abela.

“There were those who truly did not like the statement, that they requested an investigation into the entire Cabinet with the Standards Commissioner,” Abela said, adding that shortly after that statement, the Standards Commissioner had been asked to investigate Cabinet by a person who was “clearly affiliated with the PN.” 

Fearne had tendered his resignation last May, in the wake of the charges.

Abela said that his position on Fearne was clear in that he did not believe Fearne needed to resign, in the light of the position he had taken on Vitals and Steward Healthcare’s contractual obligations in the hospitals’ concession, as well as during the Covid-19 pandemic is well known and had been praised by the Auditor General.

Abela accused the PN of “hypocrisy and vindictiveness” when it filed its civil case demanding millions in damages from him, Fearne and Cabinet over the Vitals deal fraud, insisting that they had not been mentioned in the Vitals Inquiry and that their actions had even been endorsed in a subsequent report by the Standards Commissioner.

The case was “hurtful and intended to paralyse cabinet and the civil service,” the Prime Minister said, accusing the PN of falsely claiming to defend the civil service, when the cases and judicial protests it was filing showed otherwise.

“The PN has crossed every line. I say again that if anyone has committed some wrongdoing, they must bear their individual responsibility. But what I will say is that in the context of the pandemic, we worked as diligently as we could with a clear conscience and integrity and the auditor general certified this. I will certainly not allow Bernard Grech to tarnish our reputation.”

Parliament to discuss new OHSA law on Monday

Abela said that a proposed law aimed at strengthening the Occupational Health and Safety Authority is to be discussed in Parliament on Monday. Parliament will not adjourn for Summer until the bill is passed, he said.

Parliament will debate the bill which had been announced after the publication of the Sofia public inquiry report, which made several recommendations on the regulation of Malta’s construction industry. 

Abela said that the bill will “raise the bar” and proposes harsher consequences for enforcement shortcomings. A new specialised Tribunal will be set up and penalties will be increased, he said, because the current framework encourages risk taking. The amounts in fines contemplated by, and consequences of failing to adhere to, these regulations will be harsh, warned the Prime Minister.  “It is not acceptable to play with workers’ lives.”

"Proof that Abela is cut off from reality" - PN 
In a statement issued in reaction to Abela's comments, the opposition PN party said that the interview was confirmation that the Prime Minister and his government were detached from reality and accused Abela of attributing his own wrongdoing to others.

"Robert Abela's back is against the wall so much that he has to continuously lie and scaremonger about those who disagree with him," reads the statement.

"The Partit Nazzjonalista once again appeals to Robert Abela to, if he wants to be credible, stop defending those who robbed and defrauded the people of Malta and  Gozo .... and join the PN in our court case to bring about the return of the people's money."