Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1172978
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 2 OCTOBER 2019 3 NEWS MASSIMO COSTA THE Prime Minister has re- iterated his lack of faith in Pi- eter Omtzigt, saying the gov- ernment had engaged with the Council of Europe on the Daphne Caruana Galizia in- quiry, but had major reserva- tions when it came to the Par- liamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). Joseph Muscat drew a dis- tinction between the Council of Europe and PACE, empha- sising that while the two were related, they were two separate institutions. Muscat was responding to questions after Omtzigt, a PACE rapporteur, said that the public inquiry into Caruana Galizia's murder instituted by the Maltese government "does not meet the European Parlia- mentary Assembly's expecta- tions." Omtzigt's views were subse- quently endorsed by the Coun- cil of Europe, which urged the Malta's authorities to "address the issues raised as a matter of urgency." But Muscat said on Tuesday that the Council of Europe and PACE were not one and the same, and that Omtzigt wasn't interested in "the truth" emerging. "We have full respect and have engaged and will contin- ue engaging with the Council of Europe. But we have major reservations about PACE, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, in connec- tion with its rapporteur Pieter Omtzigt," Muscat said. "Mr Omtzigt has serious cred- ibility deficits, even because of his past, when it was found he had invented information about the plane which was shot down over Ukraine [MH17]. He had blamed the Ukrain- ian authorities instead of the Russian authorities, amongst other things. The way he acts, lies and speaks clearly shows he is not interested in the truth emerging but in saying what he thinks. So I am making it clear that we have major reserva- tions about him." This he said, didn't mean the government would shut its eyes and close its ears. "It means we engage with those we trust, those who believe are super partes, and who are critical of us when necessary but who are genuine interlocutors, which is what the Council of Europe is, and this is what we will con- tinue doing," he said. Asked to clarify why, although the government had said that it had consulted the Council of Europe about the inquiry, the Council had subsequently been critical of its terms and reference and the composition of its board, Muscat insisted it was PACE - a different institu- tion - which had criticised the inquiry. "Basic research shows that the Council of Europe isn't the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. They are two institutions which are tangential but are not one and the same. We said, from day one, that we engage with the Council of Europe. In fact, the Council's secretary general is- sued a statement the day after we announced the inquiry," he said. "We said from the outset that we don't have faith in Mr Omtzigt, who represents the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. We are not saying anything [contradic- tory]. They are two different institutions, and the institution we want engage and want to continue to engage with is the Council of Europe," Muscat added. Government did engage with Council of Europe, Muscat insists Joseph Muscat has insisted the government engaged with the Council of Europe on the Daphne Caruana Galizia inquiry, but had no faith in PACE. (Photo: James Bianchi/MediaToday) JAMES DEBONO THE Hal Caprat factory and stores, located a short distance from Zebbug's Tal-Grazzja chapel, could be demolished to make way for a 17m-high home for the elderly. The demolition of Hal Caprat's old bottling factory is being proposed in an application for the old people's home, inside an area characterised by one and two-sto- rey developments. The application also foresees the excavation of two parking levels, a ground floor and four overlying floors, two of which receded. The application was proposed by Jean Borg, one of the developers behind the 14 East high-rise in Gzira. In the application Borg declared not being the sole owner of the 1,731 sq.m site. The new application foresees the use natural stone finishing and wooden apertures. Five-storey retirement home proposed near Zebbug chapel Issued by Bank of Valle a p.l.c., 58, Triq San Żakkarija, Il-Belt Valle a VLT 1130 Bank of Valle a p.l.c. is a public limited company regulated by the MFSA and is licensed to carry out the business of banking in terms of the Banking Act (Cap. 371 of the Laws of Malta). DOWNLOAD YOUR SOFTWARE TOKEN Talk to us | 2131 2020 | bov.com BOV INTERNET BANKING B O V Bank of Valletta