Alternattiva Demokratika will not attend PN’s political protest against corruption

Alternattiva Demokratika – The Green Party will not attend the Nationalist Party’s protest against corruption this Sunday, claiming that the PN is in no position to preach against political corruption given its own “chequered” history.

Referring to recent events that hit the political class in Malta as “highly unethical and suspect”, Alternattiva Demokratika Chairperson Arnold Cassola placed the blame on both main political parties, suggesting that the Labour government is simply continuing the bad legacy of the Nationalist Party.

“It is all an issue of a long and chequered history of bad and unethical behaviour on the part of exponents of the Nationalist party, which has continued today with a supposedly ‘different’ Labour Party government,” Cassola said in a statement.

“The mentality is alas very similar – a crescendo of unethical behaviour which raises many questions which remain unanswered. We had former Ministers, some of whom are still members of parliament, whose unethical behaviour was brushed off with the usual excuse that there is no proof of corruption."

Cassola then went on to list key instances in which the Nationalist Party – now calling on a second national protest against corruption – in fact found itself guilty of the same corruption, mentioning the damning conclusions in the Auditor’s report about the BWSC power station, former finance minister Tonio Fenech flying off to holidays with prominent businessmen and failing to take responsibility for the campaign money for favours racket his private secretary was found guilty off.

“What about the relatives and hangers-on of a former PN energy Minister whose behaviour in relation to oil procurement is highly suspect? Not to mention the scandalous way that the 2006 so-called ‘rationalisation scheme’ was handled to favour some people, the devastating effects of which are still being felt,” Cassola said in the statement, adding that the Green Party “will not share the same stage with a party like the PN, that has a number of its exponents that preach one thing and then behave in an opposite way. We will not sacrifice our credibility and choose to remain consistent,” with reference to PN leader Simon Busuttil calling for a national protest against corruption in the wake of the ‘Panamagate’ scandal.

Cassola however added that the current Labour government has “continued the tradition of the suffocating PLPN duopoly which thrives of clientelism, unethical behavior and the ‘scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours’ mentality”, reaching a degree of arrogance which is “unacceptable in a normal democracy”.

“Muscat has failed to recognize the extremely unethical behaviour of Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri and should understand that his ‘there is no proof of corruption’ stance is something we have been hearing for year on end,” Cassola added, while the Green Party’s deputy chairperson Carmel Cacopardo said that “the only way forward is an overhaul of the political system”.