Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/507285
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 6 MAY 2015 News 3 PN leader asks Chris Said to stand down as secretary-general to focus on Gozo TIM DIACONO THE former minister for Gozo, Gio- vanna Debono, yesterday announced that she has resigned from the Nation- alist Party, but sternly added that she will not relinquish her seat in parlia- ment. Speaking outside the law court in Victoria, just minutes after her hus- band Anthony was arraigned over charges of using the ministerial budg- et to commission private works for constituents, Debono said "I categori- cally deny the allegations. In respect to the party, I believe that I should resign immediately from the party while re- taining my seat." A stoic Debono – first elected to Parliament in 1987 and romping home on an impressive first count vote ever since – said that she will stay on as an independent MP to defend her husband, adding "I have no doubt of my husband's integrity and honesty and I have no doubt that the truth will emerge." The arraignment follows police in- vestigations into MaltaToday news re- ports, which led to Anthony Debono being questioned. Anthony Debono was yesterday accused in court of hav- ing misappropriated over €5,000 in public funds by virtue of his employ- ment; of having profited, to the tune of over €5,000, from public monies and private contractors; used his official capacity as a civil servant, to his own private advantage, in dereliction of his public duty; rendered himself an ac- complice in the falsification of public documents for the issuing of payments and goods; and abused his public role and public acts entrusted to him. Giovanna Debono, who will not be contesting the next election, is the first opposition MP to resign her party since 1989, when Wenzu Mintoff re- signed in protest against corrupt and criminal elements in the then Malta Labour Party. This means the PN will not be able to fill in Debono's seat, tak- ing the opposition's seats tally to 29. The announcement came minutes before the Nationalist leader, Simon Busuttil, addressed a news conference at the party's headquarters in Pieta, in which he confirmed that the former party stalwart had tendered her res- ignation from the PN's parliamentary group. Asked whether Busuttil himself had called for Debono's resignation or if she had offered her resignation imme- diately, Busuttil said that after a meet- ing, Debono presented her letter of resignation. "I leave you to make your own conclusions," he said. On Debono's choice to stay on as an independent MP, Busuttil said that elected MPs have the right to keep their own seat and the party can- not force someone out of parliament. What she does as an independent MP, he said, is entirely up to her. Insisting that Debono's position within the party was no longer tenable, the PN leader said "once we know that Debono's husband has been arraigned the time has come for me to take ac- tion. I immediately called on her and following the meeting I had with her I received her resignation letter." Busuttil added that he accepted Debono's resignation letter "with sad- ness following the long and sterling service she gave to Malta and espe- cially Gozo." Acknowledging that these latest de- velopments continue to undermine the party's standing in Gozo, the PN leader said that he has asked Gozitan MP Chris Said to stand down as PN secretary-general in order to focus his energies on the constituency and re- establish the PN's former "fortress". The other Gozitan MP on the oppo- sition's benches, Frederick Azzopardi, who was elected through the Consti- tutional mechanism to reflect elector- al proportionality, has also said that he will not stand for re-election in the 2018 general election. In 2013, for the first time ever, the Labour party won a majority of seats in Gozo and since then the PN has seen its share of votes dwindle in what was a stronghold. Chris Said's appointment as shadow minister for Gozo would, Busuttil said, strengthen the PN's presence in Gozo. Despite there being three elected MPs from Gozo, Debono and Frederick Azzopardi both announced that they would not contest the next election. "Now it is up to Said to close the gap and make Gozo the PN's natural home, as it once was," he said. Labour points fingers at Busuttil In a statement issued yesterday evening, the Labour Party said that after Anthony Debono's arraignment, the attention now fell on Busuttil, who two years ago met the whistleblower, who had spoken out about the alleged misdeeds at the Gozo ministry, but failed to act on the whistleblower's al- legations. Labour insisted that Busuttil's fail- ure to take action has led him to de- fend his indecisiveness. "Busuttil opted to keep on defend- ing Giovanna Debono, saying he was sadly accepting her resignation," La- bour said, adding that Busuttil's inac- tion has led to the resignation of one of his MPs and the arraignment of her husband. Labour added that Chris Said was also fully aware of the allegations for over a year, however no action was taken. "Said's removal from secretary gen- eral is undoubtedly, a consequence of the panic which has engulfed the Na- tionalist Party following the historic loss it suffered in the local council elections and is concealing the remov- al behind the Debono scandal." Bail for former Gozo minister's husband, accused of misappropriation of public funds CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 Prosecuting inspectors asked the court of Magis- trate Joanne Vella Cuschieri to apply the provisions of the Money Laun- dering Act, to freeze his assets. Defence counsel Joe Giglio op- posed the asset freeze, and asked that Debono be released from arrest. The magistrate said the asset freeze will be decided in another sitting. Giglio said that during the time that he was being questioned by police, Debono made no attempt to speak to witnesses. But prosecuting officers said that Debono had spo- ken to potential witnesses after he was notified by Maltese police to appear at the police HQ in Floriana. Debono was granted bail, on con- dition that he signs in at the police station in Victoria, does not ap- proach witnesses, does not breach the law, and that he does not take overseas trips without the court's permission. He was granted bail on a personal deposit of €1,000 and guarantee of €5,000. Debono was escorted up the stair- case of the Gozitan courts, in Vic- toria's Cittadella, accompanied by police officers, just before 2pm. He appeared unfazed as he made his way up to the courts. His wife, Gio- vanna Debono, appeared in court 20 minutes later, at 2:15pm, before the start of proceedings. Debono, a civil servant employed in the projects division of the Gozo ministry during his wife's long-held stewardship of the ministry since 1998, is alleged to have used public resources for private contractors to carry out works for constituents at little or no expense. The allegations were first pub- lished in MaltaToday when a whistleblower said he had been left out of pocket when the Nationalist Party was not re-elected, and that works he carried out were left un- paid. The contractor, the first to avail himself of protection under the newly-enacted Whistleblowers Act, said he had asked Debono for pay- ment, then spoke to officials of the PN – among them secretary-general Chris Said and party leader Simon Busuttil – demanding payment. Three Gozitan contractors have since come forward to substantiate claims that they were asked by the Gozo Ministry to carry out con- struction work for private residenc- es or businesses. The allegations suggest that Debo- no was running a works-for-votes operation, funded by government cash, for years on end. His wife, the former Gozo minis- ter, has denied being aware of the operation. But political insiders will raise eyebrows at such denials – the small size of Gozo, the intimacy of voters and their MPs, has always been a driving factor of strong patronage links. Even Gozo Minister Anton Refalo admitted to have been aware of the rumours. Chris Said, now tasked by the party leader to restore the PN's fortunes in Gozo