Opposition leader says Abela is 'compromised' in his defence of Clayton Bartolo, Clint Camilleri

Bernard Grech says PM is protecting his ministers to 'prevent them from exposing his own wrongdoings'

Opposition leader Bernard Grech
Opposition leader Bernard Grech

Opposition leader Bernard Grech has accused the Prime Minister of shielding his ministers from accountability to prevent them from exposing his own wrongoings.

Speaking in Parliament on Monday morning, Grech criticised what he described as complacency and corruption within the government. He claimed that Labour ministers and their associates were enriching themselves at the public’s expense.

Grech was referring to Minister for Gozo Clint Camilleri and Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo. The two were deemed to have abused public funds when employing Bartolo’s wife as a ministry policy consultant without the necessary qualifications.

The Opposition leader said Camilleri is too busy serving his fellow Minister, Clayton Bartolo, instead of the people of Gozo. Rather than focusing on bettering Gozo and serving the Gozitans, Grech said the minister is more preoccupied with scratching his colleague’s back and scheming to defraud workers to pay €1,300 a week in taxes to the wife of another Minister.

Grech argued that Prime Minister Abela’s “compromised” leadership was evident in his staunch defense of ministers implicated in fraud. This defense, Grech said, was driven by Abela’s fear that any exposure of ministerial wrongdoing might reveal his own ethical failings.

Grech was speaking during the parliamentary discussion of the 2025 Budget Estimates for Gozo, where he also denounced the government’s lack of commitment to addressing Gozo's needs.

He pledged that a future Nationalist government would prioritise Gozo’s development beyond mere “speeches”.

He said that under his leadership, Gozo would be integrated into national decision-making processes, addressing urgent needs in infrastructure, healthcare, and education—areas he claims are persistently neglected.