Labour accuses Busuttil of failing to take decision over Joe Cassar

Labour has accused Opposition leader Simon Busuttil of having "failed to take a decision" over the future of Nationalist MP Joe Cassar, after MaltaToday revealed on Sunday that the former minister had failed to declare over €8,000 in house works paid for by Joe Gaffarena.

Although Cassar has since resigned as the PN's culture spokesperson, economy minister Chris Cardona insisted that Busuttil should also have fired him from the party.

"Busuttil has failed to change his party and is still surrounded by the same clique of people who had surrounded Lawrence Gonzi prior to the 2013 election," Cardona told a press conference. "Busuttil preaches a lot about the need for clean politics and high political standards, but consistently fails to clean up his own party.

READ MORE MaltaToday asks Cardona whether Michael Falzon should resign over abusive expropriation values for Gaffarena

"He hasn't taken a decision over Cassar, no matter what he says."

He suggested that Busuttil's refusal to remove Cassar from the party could be linked to a meeting, allegedly about the Daewoo scandal, that the PN leader had held with Gaffarena prior to the election.

"Joe Cassar had arranged that meeting," Cardona recounted. "What words were exchanged during that meeting, and do they have anything to do with Busuttil's refusal to fire Cassar from the party?"