Labour says Simon Busuttil used Egrant lie to undermine EU presidency, economic prosperity

The ‘Egrant lie’ broke out during the height of the Maltese EU presidency, thereby undermining the country’s efforts and the work of hundreds of people, Parliamentary Secretary for EU Funds Aaron Farrugia said, calling for the resignation of Simon Busuttil.

“It is unacceptable and inconceivable that five days after the facts of the biggest frame-up and falsified signatures emerged, Simon Busuttil still occupies a political role,” Farrugia said.

Malta was preparing for the presidency for a long time, and was in a sensitive position as it had the attention of all member states, Farrugia said, adding that Busuttil could have caused ‘irreparable damage’.

“Busuttil was prepared to attack our country’s reputation in order to score political points, and thereby undermined the national interest in favour of personal ones,” Farrugia said, adding that the EU presidency is a rare opportunity for the country.

Farrugia went on to say that Busuttil had Nationalist MPs spreading the ‘Egrant lie’ to every institution of the European Union, so much that delegations were regularly sent to scrutinise the island. He also added that the former Opposition leader organised protests in the streets as part of his “coordinated attacks” against the government.

“Even though we succeeded in completing the presidency successfully… an opportunity which was meant to unite the Maltese people turned out to be the ideal opportunity for Busuttil to attack the government and push a lie.”

The Egrant issue was planned with machiavellian strategy to destabilise the country, stagnate the economy and cause a loss of jobs, taking the country backwards, Parliamentary Secretary for Financial Services Silvio Schembri said.

“Despite being aware of the potential repercussions, Busuttil did not care about the more significant consequences this lie could have had.”

“[Busuttil] wanted to destabilise the country because he thought this was the only way that he could get to Castille. But the closest he got  was with the protests he organised in front of it,” Schembri said.

Schembri claimed that Busuttil not only planned to damage the country and cause job loss, but he also destroyed his own party with debt and “organised disorganisation.”

“There is no other option for Busuttil other than to resign,” he echoed, adding that the former Opposition leader could have been responsible for causing even further serious harm to the country, on the basis of a lie.