Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1520224
3 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 5 MAY 2024 NEWS NICOLE MEILAK nmeilak@mediatoday.com.mt strike VGH investors had already signed a memorandum of under- standing with the government on the part-privatisation of St Luke's in the months that preceded the RFP. The concession agreement meant that VGH had to invest in a new general hospital in Gozo, refurbish and Karin Grech and St Luke's in a project that would also attract medical tourism. Govern- ment agreed to buy back beds for use in the public health service. However, in 2018 after the company went bust, the 99-year- long concession was transferred to Amercian company Steward Health Care. Nonetheless, none of the major contractual milestones were ever reached. The big investments the concessionaires had to make nev- er materialised while the govern- ment paid them millions every year for the service rendered in the existing Gozo hospital and Karin Grech. Significantly, in the summer of 2019, the government entered in- to a side agreement with Steward that ensure the investors would be paid €100 million if the law courts struck down the deal. The move negotiated by Kon- rad Mizzi, who was accused by the NAO of misleading Cabinet on the nature of this agreement, was to pre-empt any decision the courts would take on a civil case that then Opposition leader Adri- an Delia had initiated to rescind the contract. Last year, the civil courts an- nulled the concession contract and all its side agreements, order- ing that the three hospitals be re- turned to the government. What had to be a flagship pro- ject of the Muscat administration ended up being a flagship of fail- ure with dark clouds of corrup- tion and money laundering hang- ing over it. Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne believes his name could be on the list of people suspected of wrongdoing despite having received a clean bill of health from the National Audit Office. Prime Minister Robert Abela has come out guns blazing against the magistrate, accusing her of engaging in 'political terrorism' and being part of a nebulous 'establishment' that wants to undermine the Labour government. A week is a long time in politics, and last week felt like five years – here's a short run-down of week one of the election campaign Candidates' line-up confirmed: There are offi- cially 39 candidates that will feature on the ballot sheet on 8 June, and it's looking to be the long- est-ever voting list. Labour have nine candidates, and the Nationalist Party has eight. But some eyes are on the third parties and independent candi- dates amid growing political apathy. For some con- cise information on each candidate, go here. A long time coming: The conclusion of the Vitals inquiry was a matter of time, but now it's become a matter of timing. Abela and his Labour election candidates have adopted a position of scepticism around the timing, down to the last hour, of the inquiry's conclusion. The Nationalist Party sim- ply tells them to let the institutions work. Joseph Muscat told the Police Commissioner he is ready for questioning to prove his innocence, and Chris Fearne told the Labour parliamentary group he is ready to resign if he is mentioned in the inquiry. The Establishment™: Abela keeps insisting that 'members of the Establishment' are working against him and the Labour government. He gave a poet- ic description of the elusive Establishment: "[It] works in silence… It acts behind the scenes… has many tentacles in many institutions". The phrasing that sounds familiar, no? Here me out: "The Estab- lishment… she don't care what do the rabbit…. She don't care what do the turtle…The Establishment she stay relax, and when need she act." Mind the gap: The latest MaltaToday survey, carried out before the Vitals inquiry revelations, indicates the gap stands at 17,100 votes in the PL's favour. Labour enjoys an absolute majority of votes but the lead has narrowed since March. However, this doesn't mean the PN has gained much – its vote share increased by only 1.6 points. The third parties and independents collectively gained 0.5 percentage points over two months. Is this what the rest of the election campaign is going to look like? The PL's candidates for the MEP elections The PN's candidates for the MEP elections