Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/826629
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 21 MAY 2017 15 Interview Economy Minister and PL deputy leader CHRIS CARDONA argues that a 'smokescreen of lies', conjured by a 'coalition of confusion', has now reached a national breaking point world country. There is the rule of law; there are principles that we have been safeguarding and working on for a long time. Three: the request made by Daphne Caruana Galizia was declared illegal by the European Court of Justice. [...] My lawyers found an ECJ court sentence saying that the law this request was based on is itself illegal. It is void: you cannot use that law in court. So we departed from the premise that the burden of proof lies with the accuser; we moved on to the point where I would have no problem [fur- nishing mobile phone records], but it would set a dangerous precedent... on the basis of an illegal law. That is not what se- riousness demands. Seriousness demands a lot more than that. Moving onto the broader is- sues of corruption overshad- owing this election: so far we have talked about Egrant, but the other companies have been known since April 2016. They belong to Konrad Mizzi, Keith Schembri and Brian Tonna. No one even questions that. So isn't the Labour Party in denial over corruption? Not at all. I think the issue of corruption is a smokescreen that Simon Busuttil, with his extremist clique in the coalition of confusion, is clinging onto by his fingertips, because he has no real alternative to this gov- ernment. There has not been a single case of corruption under this government... But... ... not only that, but we intro- duced the Whistleblowers' Act; the party financing law... we re- moved the time-barring of cas- es involving politicians. Until I die, I will remain answerable for my actions. There was the case of Panama. It was clear: we were not in denial over it. Weren't you? Absolutely not. Of course not... But the people involved were all retained... Yes, of course. But remedial action was taken... What action? There was remedial action. Konrad Mizzi was deputy party leader and minister for energy... ... and now he's been given another portfolio, but still speaks on behalf of govern- ment on energy issues... ...under the surveillance of the prime minister's office, though. That was a very strong message. Don't you think he should have resigned? I agree with the approach tak- en by the prime minister in this case. I think Konrad Mizzi still has a lot to contribute to this government as a minister; I have no doubt that his achievements are not mentioned enough, be- cause they are overshadowed by Panama. Then there's the Egrant is- sue. This is serious: we have an Opposition leader who makes calumnious allegations about the prime minister and his fam- ily... but much more seriously than that, there is the damage he has done to the country. The instability he has caused to the political scene, to the financial services sector, to the national institutions. [Busuttil] doesn't have faith in anybody. He has no faith in the Police Commis- sioner... OK, I can understand that, as the Commissioner was appointed by the Labour gov- ernment. But he has no faith in the At- torney General, either... who was appointed under the last [Gonzi] administration... or in Prof. Joe Bannister, the chair- man of the MFSA, who has been there for donkey's years. He has no faith in anyone. [...] Simon Busuttil has no choice but to adopt that attitude. But we will be holding him responsible for his actions. And the prime minister was very clear. If the Egrant inquiry, conducted by an independent magistrate, estab- lishes that there was the tiniest of doubts that there could be a personal interest on the part of Joseph Muscat, or his wife, in this company... the prime min- ister said he would resign im- mediately. But the same has to apply to Simon Busuttil. If there is no proof, Simon Busuttil will have to resign at once. Is Simon Busuttil the only one damaging the country, though? Wouldn't you agree that the actions of Konrad Mizzi, Keith Shembri, etc., have also had an impact... see- ing as they were broadcast to the world via the Panama Pa- pers? Is all that just a smoke- screen, too? Today, after the Panama leaks, and the revelation that a lot of those companies were regis- tered under Maltese names... yes, I think that some damage was done. But I think that it is a closed chapter. The prime minister took action. And the revelation did not just harm our country. It was a story that exposed a lot of people in a lot of countries as having offshore companies... But only one – Konrad Miz- zi – was a serving European minister... Yes, and he explained why he set up those structures. He even explained that it was politi- cal naivety; that he had made a mistake, and that he was sorry for what he had done. But it was definitely not intentioned for the purposes of corruption or money laundering. That is ex- cluded a priori. So much so, that when he was interviewed by the PANA committee, I think they were very clear in their reac- tions. assassination, not journalism