Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1308376
3 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 11 NOVEMBER 2020 NEWS Azzopardi thanks Standards Commissioner for speedy decision on Tel Aviv hotel freebie PAUL COCKS OPPOSITION leader Bernard Grech has asked his MPs to veri- fy and state what, if any, gifts and freebies they have received while serving the party after Jason Azz- opardi suspended himself over a freebie from the Tumas Group. Azzopardi suspended himself from the PN's shadow cabinet and parliamentary group to sub- mit himself to the judgement of his own party's ethics commission on a Tumas-financed hotel stay in Tel Aviv. Grech said politicians could not be "more Catholic than the Pope": "We cannot be naive about the fact that people often invite MPs to dinners to discuss issues, and then pay for the dinner them- selves." But Grech said MPs still had to practice what they preach when demanding high standards. "When we expect high stand- ards, we must then practice what we preach. And if there are free- bies of this type, they can be a hin- drance, and as in this case merit an investigation by the (PN's) eth- ics commission," Grech said. The PN leader described Azzo- pardi as an MP of "great qualities who does a lot of good for the country". "I understand Labour's sustained attack on Azzopardi, for whom he represents quite an adversary. He will not be compromised in his fight against corruption." Azzopardi was revealed to have requested a free, all-expenses-paid stay at the Hilton in Tel Aviv from the Tumas Group back in Ju- ly 2017 after contacting Tumas magnate Ray Fenech requesting help in finding a hotel in Israel while attending a wedding. The stay was before Tumas magnate Yorgen Fenech had been revealed as the owner of 17 Black in November 2018, a secret Du- bai company that acted as 'tar- get client' for the secret Panama companies of Keith Schembri, Joseph Muscat's former chief of staff. Fenech was accused of mas- terminding the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia in De- cember 2019. Azzopardi is the lawyer of the Caruana Galizia family. Azzopardi has now requested an investigation by the PN's own eth- ics and discipline committee, PN leader Bernard Grech said in an announcement. The news attracted consterna- tion from certain PN elected offi- cials and activists. Azzopardi has long been critical of those who have been close to Yorgen Fenech, mainly Labour ministers and oth- er government officials who were courted by the Tumas magnate specifically after the 17 Black rev- elation. "Everywhere you look there is dirt, hidden gifts and favours. An- other great news item for Mon- eyval," PN local councillor Pierre Paul Portelli wrote on Facebook. "I now expect the Nationalist Par- ty to convene the parliamentary group, the administrative and the executive in order to discuss the disciplinary steps against 'the honourable' Azzopardi. Or will they protect whoever they want and break down only those who agree with them?" Azzopardi has declared that Ray Fenech, who is Yorgen Fenech's uncle, found him a hotel "and it was only while I was checking out that the receptionist told me that it had been taken care of. It was a surprise because when I checked in she took my credit card details, as is practice," he said. "I called him or sent him a mes- sage saying that I wasn't expecting this but that as soon as I arrive in Malta I was going to thank him. I remember that as I arrived I bought him a gift from a silver shop and took it to the reception of his office in Portomaso (I nev- er stepped beyond the reception) and left it there with a thank you note so that I would not have any obligations." PN leader Bernard Grech says gifts from big business to MPs 'can be a hindrance' to their discharge of duties Grech on Tumas freebie: 'We must practice what we preach' Bernard Grech CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 "When the cashier of the Hilton in Tel Aviv told me on my checking out in 2017 that the room charges were already taken care from the Malta side, I should have insisted on paying the full bill and not just pay for taxes and extras," Azzopardi said. Azzopardi last Sunday admitted having requested the hotel stay by asking Ray Fenech to help him find a hotel in Tel Aviv. Fenech's family owns the Hilton at the Portomaso, but does not own any hotel in Israel. It appears Fenech used his influ- ence with the Hilton chain to secure Az- zopardi a room when the MP called him. "I should have acted differently back then, and I apologise for not doing so but even my strongest critics have to concede that the Tel Aviv incident did not influ- ence one iota the fulfilment of my duty as an MP," the MP said of his long-standing criticism on the Electrogas deal, of which the Tumas Group are major shareholders. The MP requested the favour from the Tumas Group director despite years of criticism of the Electrogas deal. "At that particularly difficult moment in my private life I felt that I would have been churlish to refuse the offer made by Mr Ray Fenech and that the buying of a silver gift for Mr Ray Fenech would have been a clear enough sign on my part that no obligation existed. Surely he did not need any modest silverware from me, but it was my way of coming 'even'," Azzopar- di said. The Commissioner for Standards in Public Life said that MPs who reciprocate a gift by another gift, are still bound to fol- low the Code of Ethics of the Members of the House of Representatives and report the gift. "I thank the Commissioner for his speedy decision and clarification and I apologize. Besides my impression that Fenech's gift was 'balanced' by my gift, I note that in March 2017 the Tumas Group did not have any direct interest in any legislation before the House. The Electrogas deal had been sealed a long time before and there were no plans for legislations that could have impacted directly the Tumas Group or its subsidiaries." Azzopardi's party was however a major critic of the Electrogas deal from 2013 on- wards, famously labelling an LNG tanker supplying gas to the power plant as "a monument to corruption." Azzopardi said he was "one of the great- est opponents" of the Electrogas deal, in which Tumas Group are shareholders. "It is very clear that the gift did not in anyway colour or influence my position," the MP said. Azzopardi has claimed he risks his life by acting as the lawyer of the Caruana Galizia family against the cabal that killed her, "the same cabal which assassinated her is the same one trying to kill me polit- ically. They will fail." George Hyzler, Commissioner for Standards in Public Life