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MT 27 May 2018

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15 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 MAY 2018 NEWS Egrant was "a fantastical invention", Joseph Muscat insists as he recalls the angst of see- ing his two young daughters perturbed by a banner of their parents behind bars. Interviewed for a book commemorating his 10 years at Labour's helm, Muscat attributes some of the decisions he took at the time to those delicate moments. He recounts how one evening while re- turning home with his family, he caught his daughters through the car's rear-view mirror looking at a banner strung up by the Nation- alist Party club in Mosta. The banner depicting Muscat and his wife Michelle behind bars was a reaction to the al- legations that Michelle Muscat was the own- er of Panama company Egrant. The allegations were made on Daphne Caruana Galizia's blog, based on information given to her by a former employee of Pilatus Bank, Maria Efimova. Egrant's bank account at Pilatus was also supposed to have received a deposit of €1 million from a Dubai account belonging to the daughter of Azerbaijan's President. Muscat recalls how back at home his twin daughters went up to him and asked whether they would be staying with their grandmoth- er if both their parents went to prison. "At that point in time, everything takes on a different dimension. Some of the decisions I took in that situation, were based on those moments," Muscat says, admitting the whole saga was a difficult time for him. In the interview conducted by academic and radio host Andrew Azzopardi, the Prime Minister describes the "surreal moment" when then Opposition leader Simon Busut- til gave a televised press conference the night the Egrant saga developed. Muscat says this was intended to destabilise the country. "Egrant was a pure invention. I had no pa- pers to show because it was simply not true. This worried and hurt me a lot… I only had my word to go by." Michelle Muscat promises that one day, a book will be written about the story. Interviewed for the same book by Claire Xuereb Grech, she says the Opposition wanted to remove them from office "with a big lie". "I will not stop before the Egrant story is clarified. It is a lie, a pure invention," she says, While insisting that she has absolutely nothing to worry about, she is convinced truth will prevail. "For the time being, we will wait for the magistrate's report. And then the truth will emerge." The answers to the questions on the Egrant saga reflect the complete denial of wrongdo- ing the Muscats have been harping on since that dramatic evening in April last year. The magisterial inquiry requested by the Prime Minister is still ongoing and since then Muscat won a second mandate to lead the country with an even stronger majority. Michelle Muscat says that she and Joseph continue to live a serene life. "We would have lost our serenity if we knew that we did something [wrong]. I feel bad about one thing, that our friends were dragged into this story… they even invented a story about how my friend in New York re- ceived money," she says. The reference is possibly to Michelle Butti- gieg, a former business partner of Michelle Muscat, who was appointed as Malta Tour- ism Authority representative in New York. Buttigieg is also supposed to have received funds from the sister of Pilatus Bank owner Ali Sadr Hasheminejad. The Caruana Galizia murder In the interview, Muscat admits it was al- ways his fear that something would happen to Daphne Caruana Galizia. But he never expected something so dra- matic. "I used to think it could be someone who would walk up to her and offend her, or something similar." Caruana Galizia was murdered in a power- ful car bomb on 16 October last year just af- ter leaving her Bidnija house. Muscat says the journalist was not an easy person to deal with, while emphasising this was not an excuse for what happened to her. "If she had been given police protection, she would have probably argued that some- body is putting the police outside her door to disrupt her work or spy on her… obviously, afterwards everyone is wiser," Muscat adds. Muscat says the decision to rope in foreign experts in the murder investigation left the desired results and three men stand charged in court. "On the person or persons who ordered the crime… I believe, through the judicial pro- cess already under way, and through other things, one may possibly identify, who this person or persons are," Muscat says. George Degiorgio, his brother Alfred De- giorgio and Vince Muscat are accused of car- rying out the bombing. ksansone@mediatoday.com.mt The Muscats, the Egrant saga and their daughters 'Joseph, 10 Snin Mexxej' is published by SKS and goes on sale tomorrow from leading bookshops for the price of €15. It contains contributions by professor of philosophy John Baldacchino and Michael Grech, activists Gabi Calleja and former MP Deborah Schembri, Labour insiders Kurt Farrugia and Nigel Vella, economist Alfred Mifsud, and veteran politicians Evarist Bartolo, Maria Camilleri and Joe Micallef Stafrace. The book includes "uncut" interviews with Joseph Muscat by academic and broadcaster Andrew Azzopardi, and Michelle Muscat by Claire Xuereb Grech. for same-sex couples. Muscat eventually shifted his views in what Education Minis- ter Evarist Bartolo describes as the Prime Minister's ability to listen, understand and identify with the problems and suffering of people. The book includes contribu- tions from other people, includ- ing former Labour MP Maria Camilleri and the head of gov- ernment communications Kurt Farrugia. They recount their personal experiences of having worked closely with Muscat, lifting the lid on the PL's leader modus op- erandi. They are less critical in their analysis but there is a com- mon thread found in almost all contributions that define Mus- cat as someone who tries to get the best out of people, even those who may be criti- cal of his actions. Muscat describes himself as "the type not to turn his back on anyone", a trait that probably traces its roots in his politically mixed family background. Pensive at a press conference addressing the press reports in Malta Files as Malta enters the elections, hot on the heels of the Egrant allegation Muscat recounts returning home with his family, when he caught his daughters through the car's rear-view mirror looking at a banner strung up by the Mosta PN club depicting him and his wife Michelle behind bars PHOTO BY JAMES BIANCHI PHOTO BY CHRIS MANGION

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