[WATCH] ‘No reason for Joe Cassar to resign from party’ – Busuttil

Opposition leader insists that Nationalist MP Joe Cassar should remain a member of the PN parliamentary group, calls on Muscat to fire Michael Falzon as parliamentary secretary   • Labour says Busuttil has made another 'error of judgement'   

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil (Photo: Ray Attard)
Opposition leader Simon Busuttil (Photo: Ray Attard)
Busuttil says no reason for Joe Cassar to resign from PN • Video by Ray Attard

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil insisted that there is no reason why Nationalist MP Joe Cassar should resign from the Nationalist Party, despite revelations that the former minister had failed to declare over €8,000 in house works paid for by Joe Gaffarena – a property entrepreneur associated with MPs on both sides of the House.

“After meeting with Cassar yesterday, I came to the conclusion that his position as culture spokesperson was no longer tenable,” Busuttil told a press conference today.

“However, I didn’t think that the case merited asking him to resign from the party or from parliament.”

Busuttil drew comparisons with the way Manuel Mallia was forced to resign as home affairs minister in 2014 but maintained his parliamentary seat on the government benches.

“If [planning  parliamentary secretary] Michael Falzon resigns from his Cabinet role, I  wouldn’t also expect him to resign from parliament or the Labour Party,” he said, equating the Opposition’s shadow cabinet to the government’s Cabinet of ministers.

Busuttil explained that former Gozo minister Giovanna Debono had to resign from the PN after her husband was charged in court over alleged misuse of public funds.

“Cassar didn’t do anything illegal and was not involved in misuse of public funds,” he said, adding that he will not shy away from taking harsher action against the former health minister “if new developments come to light”.

Nationalist MP Joe Cassar on Sunday announced he will no longer occupy the role of Opposition spokesperson for culture, after MaltaToday broke news on Sunday that as minister he had not declared over €8,000 in house works paid for by donor Joe Gaffarena in 2011.

‘Another error of judgement by Busuttil’ – Labour

In a reaction, Labour said that Busuttil has “made another error of judgement” by opting to believe Cassar’s explanation and by refusing to fire him from the PN.

“Busuttil expects to be viewed as credible when he speaks about honest politics, but then doesn’t even fire Cassar from his party,” the PL said. “Consistency is clearly not Busuttil’s forte, and he has once again proven that he is a man of double standards.”

‘Muscat must fire Falzon over Old Mint scandal’

Busuttil had held the press conference to throw down the gauntlet to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to fire Michael Falzon over the parliamentary secretary’s role in the controversial expropriation of half a building in Valletta from Gaffarena’s son Marco.

“Falzon is so chummy with Gaffarena that they had once gone on holiday together,” Busuttil said. “Gaffarena had personally told Falzon early on about his intentions to have the Old Mint Street property expropriated, a member of Falzon’s secretariat had accompanied Gaffarena to the Lands Department, Gaffarena handpicked the lands that were granted to him through the deal, and ultimately Falzon signed the expropriation agreement.”

The PN leader also called on Muscat to revoke the entire expropriation deal, and to revoke a permit on Gaffarena’s illegally-built petrol station that was granted to him by the current Labour government.

“I intend to introduce into government the style of honest and clean politics that I have already introduced in the Opposition,” he said. However, at this moment in time, I expect the current Prime Minister to introduce high standards of honest politics.”