Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/964110
maltatoday WEDNESDAY 11 APRIL 2018 News 3 MATTHEW VELLA THE Nationalist Party's deputy leader for party affairs, Rob- ert Arrigo, and the executive chairman of the party's media arm, Pierre Portelli, seemed pretty relaxed to let go and talk politics with what is being de- scribed as an anonymous Face- book user. In excerpts of a Messenger chat sent to Lovin' Malta, Ar- rigo is shown singling out three of leader Adrian Delia's confi- dants for criticism. In another chat, Pierre Por- telli says the PN would never admit the former MP Franco Debono back to the party un- less he publicly apologises for voting against the Gonzi ad- ministration back in 2012 in a budget vote, which brought the government down three months ahead of its five-year tenure. "Not unless he apologises with the country for bringing down the gov in 2012. And that's a lot of info considering I'm speaking to an avatar," a self-aware Portelli blurts out. Portelli also accused MPs, who are at odds with Adrian Delia's election as leader in 2017, of being responsible for the state the party finds itself in, with polls constantly show- ing it is losing ground. "No other party went through what the PN experienced fol- lowing the second massive trashing," he said. "The party members chose a new way [Adrian Delia] but not all MPs conceded, hence the state we find ourselves in. Give it some time and you'll start seeing the results we are experiencing on the road." In another conversation with the anonymous Facebook user, PN deputy leader Robert Ar- rigo singles out Delia's allies for criticism – MPs Kristy Debono and Hermann Schiavone and chief political coordinator Jean-Pierre Debono, husband of the MP. "Adrian is OK on his own. It's the people around him!" the anonymous user was told when asked whether Delia was treat- ing Labour with kid gloves. When asked who these peo- ple were, Arrigo offers up the names: "Kristy JP Debono Sch- iavone" – all three having been major backers of Delia's leader- ship bid. Jean Pierre Debono gave up his seat in the House so that Adrian Delia could be co- opted into parliament. 'Franco must say sorry' PN top brass tell all to anonymous Facebook user Franco Debono Pierre Portelli KURT SANSONE TWO children are among four people still in intensive care at Mater Dei hospital after suf- fering critical injuries in Mon- day's horrific accident involv- ing an open-top bus. The freak accident claimed the lives of a 62-year-old Bel- gian man and a 37-year-old Spanish woman, and injured 50 others. By yesterday afternoon, eight people were still in hospital, including the four who re- mained critical. Apart from the two children in critical condition, another child is among those still in hospital. Meanwhile, the Tourism Ministry said a support unit was set up within the Malta Tourism Authority to liaise with the country representa- tives of the victims and rela- tives. "The unit is providing all the required support in these difficult moments," Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi said. In the aftermath of the inci- dent, the focus has shifted to the police investigation and magisterial inquiry as they try to establish what happened. While initial reports on the day of the incident suggested the double decker may have hit low-lying branches, it ap- pears the vehicle actually hit one of the tree's main limbs. This suggests, the bus may have been very close to the pavement when the accident occurred. The 24-year-old driver of the tourist bus is being ques- tioned by the police after re- ceiving treatment for shock in hospital. Driver had a valid licence In a joint ministerial state- ment in Parliament yesterday Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne and Transport Min- ister Ian Borg expressed their condolences to the relatives of the victims. They were joined by Opposition leader Adrian Delia. Fearne said that the two chil- dren in intensive care were aged six and eight. One of the children remained critical, while the other was in a stable condition. By yesterday even- ing, seven people were still hospitalised. Both ministers refrained from delving into the mechan- ics of the incident, insisting a magisterial inquiry was under- way. Fearne specified that the help offered by the tourism au- thority was on a humanitarian basis and did not imply any of the government agencies were assuming responsibility for what happened. Borg said the driver of the double-decker bus had a valid licence to operate such vehi- cles. Replying to a call by Opposi- tion MP Mario de Marco for all open-top bus operations to be temporarily suspended un- til safety checks on all routes were conducted, Borg said it was premature to speculate on what might have happened and whether this was a human error, an error of negligence or an accident caused by some danger on the street. Nationalist Party deputy leader Robert Arrigo noted that the two children in inten- sive care were residents with their parents at his hotel and described the anguish of their father. Four still critical after Zurrieq bus accident, including two children