Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/594552
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 1 NOVEMBER 2015 4 News MIRIAM DALLI OPPOSITION leader Simon Bu- suttil has vouched for the integ- rity of Nationalist MP Joe Cassar, the former minister who set off the acquisition of a second-hand vehicle in 2012 from Joe Gaffare- na against a €1,000 donation to the Nationalist Party. Interviewed on Radju Malta's Ghandi Xi Nghid, the PN leader insisted that the media reports surrounding Cassar's acquaint- ance with property entrepreneur Joe Gaffarena were "nothing but Joseph Muscat's attempts at de- viating attention from the real scandals". Cassar was allegedly being threatened by blackmail after having admitted donating €1,000 to the PN in lieu of his acquisi- tion of a vehicle for his daughter from Gaffarena, who allegedly refused payment for the car. Cas- sar insisted that he had wanted to help out Gaffarena, who al- legedly "had nothing to live on". The claim was repeated by Bu- suttil, who said he would let ra- dio listeners come to their own conclusion of how Cassar knew Gaffarena. But host Andrew Azzopardi questioned whether politicians were so naive, asking Busut- til if – had he been Cassar – he would accept a car against a do- nation to the PN. "Irrespective of the amount paid, why would a politician – a minister – accept such a deal? How would I accept someone installing CCTV in my house? The arguments can be genuine, but they sound ridicu- lous," the host said. Standing by his MP, the PN leader said he "will not be drawn into these games" and he would instead remind people of scan- dals puncturing Labour's ad- ministration, such as the GWU's lease of its offices to ARMS in breach of a government lease, the Old Mint Street expropria- tion, and the Café Premier bail- out deal. "Instead of discussing these topics we are discussing the integrity of Joe Cassar and I will not fall for this deviation by Joseph Muscat." Busuttil said lands parliamenta- ry secretary Michael Falzon had met Joe Gaffarena to see what he knew about the PN. "Let us not forget that Gaffarena was with the PN but we showed him the door when he came asking for the petrol station permit," Bu- suttil said of the permit MEPA refused Joe Gaffarena for the ille- gal extension of his Qormi petrol pump station in 2008. But Gaffarena claims in an affi- davit that Joe Cassar had helped organise a meeting between Bu- suttil and Gaffarena before the 2013 elections. Busuttil reiterated that, either way, Cassar had forked out the money for the car and he did so because "Gaffarena was in a vul- nerable position". In the extensive interview, during which he spoke of trans- port, traffic and embryo freezing amongst others, Busuttil said lo- cal politics had been marred by antagonism, confrontational tac- tics and a lack of consensus. "It's easy to fall into the trap of this system... we need more open and European politics as our system is too parochial and, to a certain extent, pushes away those who come with new ideas," Busuttil said. While advocating the need to move towards politics of respon- sibility and accountability – "this government keeps trying to di- vert attention from its own scan- dals" – Busuttil denied his budget speech had been confrontational "because I was telling the truth". "As I said, you need to be part of the system if you want to change it," the PN leader added, insist- ing there was nothing personal in flagging the relatives of MPs or ministers paid through taxpay- ers' money. Once again, Busuttil slammed the Public Broadcasting Serv- ices "for being controlled by the government" and insisted that "government's propaganda was everywhere: PBS, Super One, newspapers... everywhere". Azzopardi immediately clari- fied that his own radio show was not "controlled by the govern- ment" with Busuttil adding he hoped so. Following Busuttil's criticism of former ONE TV employees now employed with the government, Azzopardi asked the PN leader whether he would stop Net jour- nalists from joining ministries, if elected prime minister. "I can understand, to a certain extent, why they would join the government," Busuttil said, after Azzopardi pointed out "an exo- dus" that took place from Media. Link under the previous admin- istrations. "The issue is the exag- gerated wages they receive, some of them with salaries higher than what the Opposition leader re- ceives, higher than what minis- ters and parliamentary secretar- ies receive," Busuttil said. He added that taxpayers' money was "financing" the daily attacks against the Opposition. Turning to the economy, the Opposition leader insisted that it was not true that wages had in- creased while manufacturing was registering decreases. He said that unlike the Nation- alist administrations, the Labour government had failed to create economic niches. He said that Malta had the highest rate of cost of living, with food being the highest cost. "There are difficul- ties in the economy and we need to see that it is managed sustain- ably," he said. Busuttil went on to add that the government had thrown the envi- ronment out of the window. The PN leader said that even genuine Labourites acknowledge that "we are an effective thorn in the gov- ernment's side". He said the Opposition would not only come up with alterna- tive proposals but also present the PN's vision on various sectors for the years to come. 2123 4710 www.mita.gov.mt For further information, contact the Contracts Management Department The above tenders are obtainable from the Electronic Public Procurement System (www.etenders.gov.mt) Provision of Maintenance and Support Services for F5 Load Balancers – T099/15 Issued on: 28 October 2015 / Closing on: 16 November 2015 MITA NOTIFIES THAT OFFERS WILL BE RECEIVED FOR: Invitation to TENDER Provision of Maintenance and Support on IBM Non SAN Attached Servers and Related Equipment – T067/15 Issued on: 21 October 2015 / Closing on: 20 November 2015 Economic operators interested in participating in these call for tenders are to note that workshops are organised by the Department of Contracts at the premises of Centre for Development Research and Training (CDRT), San Salvatore Bastion, Sa Maison Road, Floriana. During these workshops, economic operators will have the opportunity to familiarise themselves with compiling and submitting a tender online. More information is available in the tender document. Busuttil vouches for Joe Cassar's integrity, 'won't play Labour's game' Opposition leader Simon Busuttil says reports on connections between Gaffarena and PN MP are 'deviations from the true scandals'