Clint Camilleri like Bartolo is guilty of fraud and must resign, Grech tells supporters in Valletta

Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri, like Clayton Bartolo, is guilty of fraud and must step aside, Opposition leader Bernard Grech told a protest on Monday evening.

“The case of Clint, Amanda, and Clayton has shaken the nation. It has stunned everyone with their blatant arrogance. Because this is a case that encapsulates everything – abuse of power, cronyism, fraud, lack of ethics, lies, and illegality reaching new heights,” Grech told supporters in front of the parliament building on Monday evening.

In what is the second Nationalist Party protest in three weeks, Nationalist supporters packed Freedom Square in front of the parliament building to protest the scandal involving former tourism minister Clayton Bartolo, his wife and Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri. 

The protest, with the tag line frodi biss, frodi spiss (only fraud, all the time) also comes after the Nationalist Party won its appeal as the court declared the State Advocate has the power to recover the funds paid throughout the hospitals concession. Protestors chanted "mafia mafia" as Labour MPs exited Monday's parliamentary session. 

“We are here because this country belongs to you, not to Castille. We are here because you know this country has always been, and still is, a land of quality. We are here because you know it is the government that lacks quality,” the Nationalist leader said.

He urged supporters to look at the case from a broader picture as one which highlights the way government has failed in its duty.

“This case is not an isolated one but another link in a chain of theft, abuse of power, concealment, cronyism, and protection of wrongdoing. A chain that has been growing for 11 years,” Grech said.

The PN leader said the Labour administration has eroded the democratic political system “from the very top.”

“That is why nothing shocks us anymore. Because we expect no better from this government,” he said.

A Prime Minister of U-turns - Bernard Grech

Accusing the PM of shifting his stance after Bartolo was forced to resign following fresh revelations concerning alleged kickbacks which had been investigated by the FIAU, Grech said it has become symptomatic of his leadership.

“First, he said there was no reason for Clayton Bartolo to resign. Then he completely changed his mind. He dismissed him from the cabinet and, to add insult to injury, expelled him from the party. […] In the truest sense of the word, Malta is being led by a spineless leader, not a prime minister,” Grech said.

He also stated the Labour administration has betrayed its promise of making the country better.

“Look back over the last 11 years. Has Malta truly become ours (tagħna lkoll)? Absolutely not. It is not even the Labour Party’s Malta anymore because this government is no longer guided by the party and its social-democratic principles,” he said.

Looking ahead, he said he could come in front of people and promise them the impossible but would not be repeating the same mistakes as Robert Abela and Joseph Muscat.

“In politics, we often hear about change as if it is something yet to happen, something abstract that we can only dream about,” he said. “But I say to you: join us because change is already happening.”

He also accused Abela of resorting to dangerous tactics. “This doesn’t scare us because we know we are on the side of what is right, on your side, and on the side of the country.”

He concluded by saying he would be working tirelessly to make change happen “so that fraud after fraud transforms into prosperity after prosperity, and that prosperity is distributed fairly and justly.”

Today Malta won - Adrian Delia

Speaking on the Court of Appeals’ ruling earlier on Monday, the PN’s shadow minister for health said “the country won today”.

He said this was not because Malta “has the best government in the world”, but because the Opposition safeguards the interest of the people.

Delia said Robert Abela is more focused on saving his skin that recuperating the funds stolen through the hospitals concession.

He said Labour and Abela lost on Monday morning because they are not siding with the country, but on the side of those who stole the money.

The PN MP said the Opposition must now turn court victories into victories for the nation, “and that is why the PN will continue to strengthen itself.”

Opening the protest, MCAST lecturer Stef Formosa expressed her frustration at how educators at the institution have been left in limbo due to the absence of a new collective agreement.

She said this is leading to a mental health crisis for both lecturers and students.