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WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT WEDNESDAY EDITION €1.00 Newspaper post WEDNESDAY • 20 APRIL 2016 • ISSUE 465 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY EDITORIAL • PAGE 9 Independent MP to table no confidence motions against Mizzi, Schembri TIM DIACONO THE government comfortably won Monday night's no confi- dence vote, but two fresh mo- tions – against energy minister Konrad Mizzi and the Prime Minister's chief of staff, Keith Schembri – are already in the works. Independent MP Marlene Farrugia on Monday night pre- sented a no confidence motion against Mizzi, and she con- firmed with MaltaToday that she plans to table a separate mo- tion against Schembri if Joseph Muscat fails to fire him from his post. "Everybody is responsible for their own actions, and so votes against Mizzi and Schembri merit separate discussions," she said. Parliament's Business Com- mittee will now convene to set a debate date for Farrugia's no confidence motion against Mizzi, which PN leader Simon Busuttil has already pledged to support. The former Labour MP didn't give an indication as to when she plans to file the motion against Schembri, but she urged Muscat to remove him before she does so. "A week is a long time in poli- tics, and even an hour is a long time at the moment," she said. "As chief of staff, Keith Schem- bri occupies a crucial role in government, and is essentially the government's face. But he has to go, as he is a blot on Mal- ta's reputation." The two motions will oblige Labour MPs to specifically speak about Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri, whose offshore Pana- manian companies were named in the Panama Papers leak. During Monday's debate, the Opposition frequently chas- tised Labour MPs for toasting the government's achievements rather than speaking about 'Pan- amagate'. However, the Labour MPs retorted that the Opposi- tion's motion of no confidence was against the government as a whole. Farrugia told MaltaToday that the scandal has overshadowed the Labour government's posi- tive achievements. PAGE 6 Independent MP Marlene Farrugia's motions of no confidence will certainly please PN leader Simon Busuttil Mizzi declared €37,500 rental income since 2013 MPs' tax declarations reveal net earnings for embattled energy minister Konrad Mizzi and PN's deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami, target of Labour spin over villa permits MATTHEW VELLA ENERGY minister Konrad Mizzi has declared just over €37,500 in rental in- come over 2013 and 2014, according to tax returns provided to MaltaToday on request to the House of Representatives. The information was requested in the light of Mizzi's statements since admitting in February that he owned an off- shore company in Panama and an offshore trust in New Zealand. Mizzi had said the structure was intend- ed as a family trust for assets and invest- ment, and prospec- tive investments in- clude the leveraging of his property in London. Mizzi had also said his trustees, Orion Trust New Zealand, would manage "future i n v e s t m e n t s which will seek to attain a rea- sonable return for the beneficiaries". But Mizzi yes- terday refused to tell Malta- Today the address of his UK property, sought in a bid to ascertain its value. "Minister Mizzi pays due taxes both in the UK and Malta. His tax state- ments have already been made public in the media. Recently Minister Mizzi has subjected himself to a fully-fledged tax audit which no other politician has done in the history of Malta. He is fully collaborating on this because he has always acted fairly," the en- ergy ministry said. M i z z i ' s tax declara- tions show that in 2013 he earned €40,442 as m i n i s t e r i a l salary, and €16,025 in rental income, and benefited from a 20% tax reduction on rent of €3,205. In 2014, he earned a €51,672 salary and €21,543 in rental income, and benefited from a tax reduction of €4,309. PAGE 4 Energy and Health minister