[WATCH] PD MPs ready to back motion of no confidence in Adrian Delia

PD MPs ready to back motion of no confidence

Marlene Farrugia said she would support a motion of no confidence in Adrian Delia if this were to be filed, since the Opposition leader had become the Prime Minister's poodle and was in collusion with him.

The political scene in Malta is undergoing a major upheaval following Delia's decision to ask former leader Simon Busuttil to resign from the Nationalist Party, Farrugia told MaltaToday, and it is premature to say whether scorned PN MPs would join the Democratic Party.

A motion of no confidence in the Opposition leader would require the backing of 16 Opposition MPs to go through. Eleven Nationalist MPs have already registered their lack of support for Delia after his request for Busuttil to leave, and Farrugia's statements backing the dissenting MPs means this number would increase to 13 with her and Godfrey Farrugia's support.

If the motion would actually be filed and did go through, this would mean Delia would not remain leader of the Opposition, since he wouldn't enjoy the support of the majority of his MPs.

Asked whether she would be inviting those Nationalist MPs who did not agree with Delia to join the Democratic Party, Farrugia said that "one still has to see what will happen".

"We are still not in a position to determine what this will metamorphose into," she said, "Right now there is the Adrian Delia version of the Nationalist Party, the [actual] Nationalist Party, and the Democratic Party."

"The situation is still very fluid and we have to make it known to the people that there are a group of persons in Malta who are ready to lead the country towards normality… and to fight for the dignity of everybody and work for our children to have the same opportunities as we did.

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Farrugia emphasised she had "complete faith" in Magistrate Aaron Bugeja, who conducted the Egrant inquiry, but pointed out that he could only base his findings on the evidence which he had available.

"Bugeja could only do his job based on the evidence he had, and cannot speak about anything for which he has no evidence. For instance, he cannot say anything about the two Panama companies which were opened alongside Egrant, and which the Prime Minister did nothing about. The magistrate can only do his legal duty and cannot comment about political behaviour," Farrugia underlined.

Farrugia said that democracy in Malta "was never as much as risk as it is now", because the country's two main parties - the PN and PL - were in collusion, with Opposition leader Adrian Delia having become Joseph Muscat's poodle.

"How can you serve under a leader who had certain shadows cast upon him, and who is the poodle of the Prime Minister?" she asked, in clear reference to the allegations made about Delia's past by murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

"Both the Prime Minister and the leader of the Opposition commented on the Egrant inquiry before the full report was published," she said, "And they agreed that those who scrutinised allegations of corruption should be dismissed. But on the other hand, those involved in shady practices are elevated."

"The two parties have it in their best interest to cover each other's backs," she said, "But the Democratic Party is still here to keep working for a responsible form of politics and good governance, keeping citizens at the centre. There are still those in this country who believe Malta can succeed by doing things the right way."

PD leader Anthony Buttigieg added that "there will always remain doubt on whether Magistrate Bugeja had available all the evidence needed" in the course of the Egrant inquiry.

He also asked whether there was some ulterior motive for Delia to take the decision to ask Busuttil to resign from the Nationalist Party.