Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/841483
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 25 JUNE 2017 7 News CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 "Of course my family was an impor- tant consideration, especially my five young children," he said. Delia claimed that he had not met Simon Busuttil and did not discuss the decision with him, even "out of respect", since the two have known each other since their school days. PN councillors had already confirmed with MaltaToday that Delia had been actively meeting councillors and party bigwigs and discussing his chances for the PN leadership. Openly backing Delia is Pierre Portelli, who is currently content editor at The Malta Independent. Delia confirmed that he had spo- ken with Portelli and discussed his decision with him. "He's a friend and I think he re- spects me. My understanding is that he will support me as much as he can," he said. "And I will do all I can to rope him in as much as possible, because I value his friendship, loyalty and ca- pabilities." Portelli has been cautious not to reveal interest in the post of party secre- tary general, but has been i n f o r m i n g many of his colleagues of his political a m b i t i o n s . He was some- what evasive with MaltaTo- day last week when he was asked about the subject. But councillors had a different story to tell, talking of Portelli ac- tively engaged in promoting Delia as the natural choice. The Malta Independent, which hosts blog- ger and gossip columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia, called on readers to vote out Labour in the lead up to the elections. When Portelli was asked by MaltaToday about his interest in the post, he said "…in the past I have had to put my family first. If you cannot give your full commit- ment to a post, then it's not for you. But it is possible that these times are more encouraging." In 2013 there was also a move to push Portelli for secretary gener- al, with a MaltaToday online poll favouring him for the post. Delia, who is legal partner with the flamboyant lawyer and for- mer PN candidate Georg Sapi- ano, heads the Litigation Team at Aequitas Legal. He is also a di- rector and company secretary at Erste Bank (Malta) Ltd, a subsidi- ary of Erste Bank, a major player in Central and Eastern European banking with a market capitalisa- tion of €15 billion, and is also the second time elected and popular president of Birkirkara FC. On his legal firm's website he boasts that he assisted Erste Bank in a number of loan syndications, "…the most recent being a €70 million Term Loan Facility where he represented Erste Bank (Mal- ta) Ltd as a co-arranger." He also writes that for years he advised the Swedish mega-com- pany Skanska, "…the mul- tinational construc- tion company which com- pleted Mal- ta's State of the Art, Mater Dei H o s p i t a l , the larg- est pro- c u r e m e n t contract on the island to date." S k a n s k a are presently engaged in an ongoing dispute in- volving mil- lions of eu- ros with the Maltese government over serious specification flaws in concrete works at the "state of the art" facility. Delia also says that today he acts for the country's largest road construction companies and consortia, top real estate agents, development and construction companies and architectural of- fices. As such, his credentials could come under serious scru- tiny by the media. And he proudly admits that: "I have unparalleled experience in public procurement matters rep- resenting briefs in front of the Public Contracts Appeals Board as well as in arbitration proce- dures which have amounted over the past five years to over half a billion euros in tender value." His extensive links to business may seem at face value as an asset but they could in fact come back to haunt him, as we have seen from the media in recent months. He is a Jesuit-educated student like Simon Busuttil and Joseph Muscat and read law at the Uni- versity of Malta from where he graduated and was admitted to the bar in 1993. And he is mar- ried to lawyer Nickie Vella de Fremeaux, they are parents to five children. His wife, also a senior associ- ate at Aequitas, is rather vocifer- ous on the social media, having written before the election: "I will vote with a clear conscience to bring my country back to its former glory and after that who- ever is elected I will fight against the IIP scheme – why? – because like I said I am not partisan, I am a patriot and have principles and morals and am proud to be Mal- tese and will fight for these beliefs always. God bless Malta." Paradoxically, Aequitas offers the IIP programme to its clients. But earlier she had also ex- pressed anger at the viciousness on the social media stating: "It is healthy to argue (at times till you are blue in the face) but it is es- sential to respect one's courage to stand up to be counted and their right to express their opinion even if you disagree with it." If Delia does decide to stand he will probably be up against two of the most seasoned and primed politicians with deep roots in the party, the charismatic Chris Said and Claudio Grech. Both were elected to parliament and have some serious backing in the par- ty – Said in particular served as secretary general in the first two years after the party lost the elec- tion in 2013 and Claudio Grech showed his capability as a public speaker and moderate voice in the party. Said and Grech have both been biding their time and waiting for the opportune time to announce their candidature. Businessman David Thake, who failed to get elected to parliament but had a popular radio show on NET, emulating to some extent Manwel Cuschieri on One, has also shown interest in the leader- ship post. But his chances of gar- nering support for the post ap- pear to be slim. Other candidates have not shown keen interest in the post and Roberta Metsola has decided to hang on to her MEP seat. (See also Analysis on pages 10, 11) ers for humanist celebrations. Agius explained that the Civil Unions act already allows for het- erosexuals to enter into a civil un- ion and a number of couples have indeed preferred this model over marriage. Asked how the law will improve the lives of gay couples, Agius said "I think that by now everyone is aware of how the Civil Unions Act has empowered the LGBTIQ community in Malta to feel and live as equals in Maltese soci- ety. Marriage equality will further build on this by ensuring that all couples become fully equal under Maltese law." PN to vote in favour Civil unions were introduced by Muscat's first administration in 2014, and according to a Euro- barometer poll taken a year later, 65% of Maltese respondents fa- vour marriage equality. In 2014, the PN abstained when the civil unions law was approved by Parliament, however this time around, the opposition will be vot- ing in favour of the Marriage Act after pledging to introduce mar- riage for persons of the same sex in its 2017 electoral programme. Although a number of con- servative MPs on the opposition benches have their reservations on the draft law, the Nationalist Party confirmed that its MPs will all be voting at all stages in favour of the bill to legalise gay marriage. "This commitment reflects the PN's electoral pledge to introduce same-sex marriage," the PN said in a statement on Friday, adding that it will be proposing a num- ber of amendments at committee stage to improve the proposed Bill. The PN had abstained on a bill that introduced civil unions be- cause of its reservations on gay adoptions, but eventually came out in favour of gay marriage, with outgoing leader Simon Bu- suttil admitting that the decision to abstain on civil unions was a mistake. Once introduced Malta would become the 14th European nation to have legalised same-sex mar- riages, joining Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. couples Delia will be up against seasoned politicians CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Earlier this month, the Malta Gaming Authority suspended the online gambling licence of CenturionBet Ltd, which operates the Bet1128 brand. Italian police have documented how the Calabria-based Arena clan marketed the bet- ting website of CenturionBet Ltd, enjoying a near-monopoly over gambling activities in the area and allegedly trafficking stolen archaeo- logical artefacts. Francesco Martiradonna, described by in- vestigators as the "de-facto owner of Centu- rionbet", was alleged to have provided a con- crete contribution to the "strengthening of the 'Ndrangheta group's commercial position". The Martiradonna family lawyer, Giancarlo Chiarello, has denied that the Martiradonnas had anything to do with the Maltese company. "The company CenturionBet has never been the subject of a criminal investigation," Chi- arello said. "And I am not aware that Franc- esco Martiradonna played a role in its corpo- rate structure." In May, Italian authorities arrested 68 sus- pected members of the 'Ndrangheta mafia group that stole food from migrants at Italy's largest reception centre, siphoning off over €30 million in state funds. Now, as part of the ongoing investigation, the Italian prosecutor is urging the Maltese authorities to collaborate, adding that time is of the essence. "If Malta decides not to collaborate with Ita- ly, or replies six months or a year after I con- clude my investigation, it will be useless. It is just a choice of not wanting to reply, because we have no problems on a procedural level," Gratteri was quoted as saying. Gratteri also commented that he viewed the "high" number of firms in Malta offering on- line gambling was "very suspicious". "There is something that doesn't add up on the legislative level or at the level of controls… we need to look further into the matter, not only at a judicial level but also at administrative and political levels," the Italian prosecutor said. Martiradonna family lawyer denies Malta links Attorney General Peter Grech Chris Said (left) and Claudio Grech are the most probable candidates from the long line of hopefuls Delia's wife, Nicky Vella de Fremeaux, also a lawyer, mother to his five children, is outspoken and eloquent