Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri should resign or be expelled 'immediately,' says AD

Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri must either resign or be expelled “immediately,” following the arrest of Yorgen Fenech on Wednesday morning, Alternattiva Demokratika chairperson Carmel Cacopardo said.

Cacopardo said that Fenech’s arrest opened the door to many possibilities. He said that Fenech’s presence in Malta led one to believe that he was convinced that nothing would have happened to him.

Cacopardo highlight the fact that Fenech is the owner of 17 Black and that linked him to Mizzi and Schembri. He said that after taking stock of all the information available in public so far, the conclusion is that Mizzi and Schembri “should be the first to go… and others should follow.”

Early on Wednesday morning, AFM patrol boats intercepted the yacht of Electrogas investor and 17 Black owner Yorgen Fenech leaving the Portomaso Marina at 5am. This happened less than 24 hours after Prime Minister Joseph Muscat announced that he recommended a pardon for the middleman in the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

In his first comments since the arrest, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said that the resignations of Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi should be considered “after all facts emerge”.

“Today, that is not a consideration I can make,” Muscat said.

It's blatantly obvious that Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi cannot remain in their positions - Moviment Graffitti

Moviment Graffitti said that in view of today’s arrest it has reiterated its stance that Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi should immediately resign and “disappear from the political scene, something that is long overdue.”

The NGO said that the arrest of Fenech in connection with Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder further makes the position of these two political figures totally untenable.

“The scandal surrounding Yorgen Fenech prior to today’s arrest directly involves the privatisation of energy in Malta and the opening of offshore accounts by Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi. 17 Black, whose owner was revealed to be Yorgen Fenech, was a company cited in the Panama Papers as one transferring funds in these two offshore accounts,” it said.

Moviment Graffitti said that regardless of, and before ascertaining, any eventual criminal responsibility from everyone implicated, it had become blatantly obvious that Mizzi and Schembri cannot remain in their positions “while allegedly being connected not only to a corruption scandal but now also to a businessman implicated in murder.”

“Should Mizzi and Schembri yet again decide not to resign, public anger would be entirely justified and everyone should be asking about Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi's stranglehold on Muscat. Why are they so indispensable? Why is the Prime Minister once again ready to face pressure from all quarters, including from pockets of the Labour Party, in order to protect these two individuals whose credit has run out long, long ago?”

READ MORE:

• Will PM make Schembri resign? ‘Today, that’s not a consideration I can make’
• 17 Black owner Yorgen Fenech under arrest after yacht stopped from leaving Portomaso