Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1399957
3 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 8 AUGUST 2021 NEWS KURT SANSONE EDWARD Zammit Lewis says he will not resign despite his friendship with murder suspect Yorgen Fenech and in- sists he has "always acted with integrity". The Justice Minister, however, has apologised to Labour Party voters for de- scribing them with the derogatory term 'Ġaħan' in a WhatsApp exchange with Fenech. Pressure has been mounting on the minister to resign from Cabinet after a series of messages were outed in the me- dia. But Zammit Lewis was reluctant to entertain the idea of stepping down from Cabinet when speaking to MaltaToday. "I will not be resigning as minister since there are no grounds for a resignation and I conducted reforms that no justice minister conducted since our nation's independence," he said. The minister insisted he never hid the fact that he knew Fenech. "I always stated the truth, contrary to Opposition members who claimed otherwise, and eventually resulted that they were lying." Zammit Lewis insisted he always act- ed with integrity when pressed as to whether his position in Cabinet has been compromised as a result of the familiar- ity with Fenech and the latter's ongoing murder proceedings. "I can also state with a firm conviction that I have always acted with integri- ty throughout my political career. No friendship has ever affected my perfor- mance as part of the legislative or the ex- ecutive," he said. "I am sure that you very well know that criminal proceedings are the sole responsibility of the Courts of Justice, separate and distinct from the government." Conflict of interest However, Zammit Lewis sidestepped the question when it was pointed out that he has a clear conflict of interest as a member of parliament's Standards Committee in the ethics case concern- ing Labour MP Rosianne Cutajar and a property sale involving Fenech. "As regards, any parlia- mentary Standing Com- mittee, I will regulate myself in accordance to our code of ethics as MPs in due course," he replied cryptically, reiterating that no friendship has ever affected his perfor- mance as an MP. He insisted that as min- ister responsible for the justice sector, he always served his duties "dili- gently and, more impor- tant, proactively". The minister added that he undertook ambitious re- forms in the sector in the interest of "effective justice and strengthening institutions". Zammit Lewis and Fenech exchanged more than 700 WhatsApp mes- sages between January and October 2019, some of which were released in the media last week. Fenech was arrested in November 2019 and charged with master- minding the murder of Daphne Caruana Gali- zia. No discussion on 17 Black The messages were ex- changed at a time when it was publicly known that Fenech owned Du- bai company 17 Black, named in the Panama Papers as one of two cli- ent companies that had to transfer money to the Panama companies of Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri. Between January and July, Zammit Lewis was a backbench MP until he was appointed European Affairs minister instead of Helena Dalli who was nominated to serve as European Commission- er. Asked whether it was appropriate for him to communicate with Fenech despite the 17 Black reve- lation, Zammit Lewis said that he never discussed 17 Black with Fenech. "Nor did Yorgen Fenech refer to it in my pres- ence," he added. The overriding narrative at the time within the Labour Party was to dismiss the concerns about 17 Black despite the serious allegations that it may have been the conduit for bribery involving major government projects. The minister denied ever receiving monetary donations or other freebies from Fenech. "Yorgen Fenech never gave me or any members of my family any do- nations or freebies. I confirm that I paid for all my political events with the Tu- mas Group since the start of my political career," he said. 'Gahan' apology In a lengthy WhatsApp exchange that happened in May 2019, Zammit Lewis lamented with Fenech that he did not have support in the party, was 'never wanted' and that Labourites underrate him. At one point, Zammit Lewis even re- ferred to Labour voters disparagingly as 'Ġaħan', which is a derogatory term meaning 'fools'. Last week, the minister refused to apologise, insisting his words were taken out of context. However, Zammit Lewis has now recanted and ad- mitted the choice of words was wrong. "I grew up in the Labour Party, I have been a Labour voter myself all my life and practically occupied all available posts since my youth days within the Malta Labour Party. I apologise to all Labour voters for that text message ('Ġaħan') you are referring to. The intended con- text was a reference to the need to have an electoral system that does not make way to clientelism. However, I do admit that the choice of words was one which can give rise to various interpretations," he replied. In the same lengthy exchange, Zam- mit Lewis also used the words 'tfal u pożi' (children and poses), and 'political competence zero' in what was ostensi- bly a reference to his parliamentary col- leagues. But the minister insisted his relation- ship with colleagues is excellent. "I feel privileged to have an excellent relation- ship with my colleagues. Together, as a government, we have achieved unprec- edented results in the interest of Malta and our citizens," he said. Zammit Lewis was appointed justice minister in January 2020 by the incom- ing Prime Minister Robert Abela. Over the past 18 months he piloted a number of reforms intended to improve good governance as Malta faced the brunt of international scrutiny following Caruana Galizia's murder. "There are no grounds for a resignation" Edward Zammit Lewis is refusing to accept that his position in Cabinet has been compromised as a result of the familiarity with Yorgen Fenech when it was was known he was the owner of 17 Black "Yorgen Fenech never gave me or any members of my family any donations or freebies. I confirm that I paid for all my political events with the Tumas Group since the start of my political career"