Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/979340
maltatoday WEDNESDAY 9 MAY 2018 News 3 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Efimova was one of the sources be- hind allegations made by the Daphne Caruana Galizia in April last year, where she claimed that the Prime Minister's wife was the ultimate ben- eficial owner of Egrant Inc., a com- pany revealed by the Panama Papers to have been opened by Nexia BT for an unnamed client. Caruana Galizia had claimed that the company held an account at Pi- latus Bank, and had received over $1 million from Al Sahra FZCO, a Dubai-registered company belonging to Leyla Aliyeva, daughter of Azer- baijan President Ilham Aliyev. Efimova was named as Caruana Galizia's source shortly after the al- legations were published on 20 April 2017, and was eventually discovered to have fled Malta when she failed to turn up for court proceedings, prompting the court to issue an ar- rest warrant for the Russian national. She remained out of the public eye until 14 April this year when she joined Twitter, two days after a Greek court decided that she would not be extradited to Malta. In the period that her account was active, Efimova regularly engaged in debate with civil society activists and politicians, some of whom often retweeted her. She also used the platform to name the Pilatus Bank employees whom she said were guilty of wrongdoing, and urged them to follow her example and come clean. Her stint in the public eye culmi- nated in activists playing a video message sent by Efimova during last week's 'Justice and Truth' protest held in Valletta. When contacted by MaltaToday, Efimova's lawyer Alexandros Papas- tergiopoulous said he had no infor- mation on whether anything had prompted Efimova to take down her account. Efimova's lawyer in the dark on client's Twitter account KURT SANSONE FORMER Gozo minister Anton Re- falo was banished to the political wilderness after last year's election; a decision the Labour Party may have started to regret. In the MaltaToday survey released last Sunday, the PL saw its share of the vote drop to 34.3% in Gozo, with the Nationalist Party forging ahead for the first time in many months. Up until November last year, the PL's share of the vote in Gozo had maintained the same level of support the party received in the June elec- tion. But it has been dropping since then, with sources close to the PL telling MaltaToday that the latest survey findings are indicative of the aliena- tion from the party of Refalo's sup- porters. "The Labour Party's result is defi- nitely conditioned by Refalo's es- trangement in a region where rivalry between candidates from the same party can run very deep," the source said. A similar sentiment was expressed by people close to the Nationalist Party. Although the PN's consolidation can be attributed to the rapproche- ment between party leader Adrian Delia and failed leadership contest- ant Chris Said, the PN source said Refalo's side-lining should not be un- derestimated. "The PN's lead in Gozo is primarily attributable to the returning peace between Adrian Delia and Chris Said but also to Refalo's side-lining, which has alienated many who voted Labour in the last election," the PN source said, adding the Gozitan con- text had to be understood. Refalo was elected with the highest number of votes in the 13th district but was not retained as Gozo min- ister by the Prime Minister. Instead, he was offered another ministry but Refalo refused. Refalo remained an MP but his par- liamentary input was minimal. How- ever, just five days ago he was ap- pointed chairman of Heritage Malta, a government agency. The move has been interpreted by party insiders as a way to placate the former minister, who was miffed by the way he was treated after the last election, despite his popularity. Prior to the general election, Refa- lo had come under fire over the en- gagement of many Gozitans with the public sector, subcontracted agencies and the Gozo Channel ferry compa- ny. ksansone@mediatoday.com.mt Anton Refalo's estrangement has hurt Labour in Gozo Feb Mar May PL 43.5% 41.2% 34.3% PN 20.5% 32.4% 43.5% PD 0% 2.3% 0% AD 0% 0.2% 0% Patriot s 0% 0% 1% No Vote 11.4% 6.8% 12.4% Don't know 24.7% 17.1% 8.8% MaltaToday survey: Gozo voting intentions