Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1520224
4 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 5 MAY 2024 NEWS MATTHEW AGIUS magius@mediatoday.com.mt FOR SALE QUAD BIKE BOMBARDIER 650CC (2006). My black and yellow beautiful almost immaculate, always serviced quad is, with a heavy heart for sale. She is licensed till October 2024 and road ready. It's now time for someone else to enjoy. Annual road is €259. Asking price is €4500. Call or WhatsApp on 79990807. THE PN has warned that it is prepared to take le- gal action if the Attorney General fails to publish the Inquiry into the now-rescinded deal with Vi- tals Global Healthcare. In a statement issued on Saturday afternoon, Karol Aquilina, the Opposition Shadow Min- ister for Justice called upon Attorney General Victoria Buttigieg to immediately publish the inquiry "so that the people of Malta and Gozo can be informed of the conclusions reached by the inquiry into the greatest fraud in the politi- cal history of our nation." Aquilina said that public statements made by the Prime Minister and the Minister for Justice "clearly showed that they have access to the in- quiry and are using what they know for political and electoral aims." In an apparent tongue-in-cheek reference to the Prime Minister's claim of an "establish- ment" working behind the scenes against the national interest, Aquilina said that the inquiry report "has ended up in the hands of the Cas- tille establishment with the help of the Attorney General, who has been controlled by Castille for years and who obeys the Prime Minister and the Justice Minister's every order." He accused the Attorney General of discrimi- nating against the Leader of the Opposition and the Maltese public by not publishing the inquiry "and instead only granting access to the Prime Minister and his associates." The PN pointed out that the Constitutional Court had declared that Peter Grech, Buttigieg's predecessor as Attorney General, had breached then Opposition Leader Adrian Delia's funda- mental rights by refusing to provide him with a copy of the Egrant inquiry. "And this in spite of him having already handed a copy to Joseph Muscat, lawyer Pawlu Lia and the Minister for Justice." "The Nationalist Party will not accept and per- mit that this situation be repeated and therefore it is as of now publicly making it clear that it is prepared to take all available avenues availa- ble to it according to law, so that the people of Malta and Gozo will have a copy of the Vitals Inquiry in their hands." PN threatens legal action should AG fail to publish Vitals inquiry Justice Minister plays down Prime Minister's comments about '€10 million' Vitals inquiry PN shadow Justice Minister Karol Aquilina JUSTICE Minister Jonathan At- tard disagrees with classifying the Prime Minister's insinuation of ulterior motives in Magistrate Ga- briella Vella's completion of the Vitals inquiry earlier this week, as an attack on the judiciary. "We have systematically strengthened the public trust in the judiciary," Attard told RTK host Andrew Azzopardi, who asked him about the Prime Minis- ter's claim that the publication of the inquiry was timed to coincide with the local elections on Satur- day. Pointing to the Gonzi admin- istration of decades past, he said "I ask what they did for the judiciary, at a time when the judiciary was gripped by scandal." Treading a fine line between not contradicting his Prime Minister while at the same time not vilifying the judiciary, Attard said it would be incorrect to send the message that we do not have a strong and independent court, but said that it would be a mistake not to express his concern at the timing of the in- quiry's completion. "It is not an attack on the judici- ary. How can we, when we've in- vested so much in the judiciary?" Attard said, pointing to the grow- ing cohort of judges and magis- trates appointed by this adminis- tration. "Karol Aquilina just now spoke of an attack on the judiciary, did he forget his attacks on magis- trate Nadine Lia and Mr. Justice Giovanni Grixti?" He praised Mr. Justice Wenzu Mintoff. Has he forgotten Paul Borg Olivier's crit- icism at the time of Mintoff's ap- pointment?" Attard accused Opposition lead- er Bernard Grech of "also putting pressure on the institutions," by insisting on action being taken. "We are telling the people. Make your own decision on the timing. Four years, over €10 million spent on this inquiry….everyone ap- pointing experts at their own dis- cretion." Vitals Inquiry cost €10,000,000, Minister says Attard said that the four year long criminal inquiry into the dis- astrous sale of three public hospi- tals to Vitals Global Healthcare, which has already been described as fraudulent in a civil case for damages, had come at a cost of €10 million. "We are telling the people: 'make your own decision on the timing'," insisted the minister. "Four years, over €10 million spent on this in- quiry….everyone appointing ex- perts at their own discretion." Attard said he agreed that the inquiry could not have been com- pleted in the default 60 day pe- riod laid down by the law, "but it shouldn't have taken four years either." He hadn't seen the inquiry, he said, but added that "we think the timing will have a bearing." Like the Prime Minister yester- day, Attard too appeared to value the wisdom of crowds over the Magistrate's conclusions, whatev- er they may be. "The public will show what it thinks [of the inquiry]," Attard told the radio show host. "Our message is clear in that you have a situation where court pro- cesses can damage the political work of the government, and yes this requires a free expression of the will of the electorate," said the Minister, adding that the Rule of Law "is based on free expression." Justice Minister Jonathan Attard speaking to reporters outside court