Karl Stagno Navarra Accuses Journalists Of ‘Sowing Chaos’ For Asking Prime Minister Why He Cancelled Dubai Trip
ONE TV host Karl Stagno Navarra accused two journalists of “sowing chaos” for asking Prime Minister Robert Abela why he cancelled a trip to Dubai to visit major trade expo at the last minute, shortly before the police raided the home of his predecessor Joseph Muscat.
“Why was this question coordinated?” Stagno Navarra said on his show Pjazza yesterday evening.
“When I used to work with the PN a few years ago, a coordinator would tell us that questions should be asked in a certain way and it seems that system is still functioning. However, the sowers of chaos work through a number of means.”
Malta’s most watched discussion programme branding @BorgJake & @TimDiacono as subversive sowers of chaos in cahoots with the opposition and urging the faithful to “answer the press with their vote”. pic.twitter.com/qDaKo749pQ
— BugM (@bugdavem) January 20, 2022
He didn’t discuss the Prime Minister’s answer to the question or explain why the question was asked in the first place. Instead, he resorted to partisan tactics by urging viewers to give journalists a “response” by voting for the Labour Party at this year’s election.
Two journalists, from Lovin Malta and Times of Malta, yesterday asked Abela outside Castille why he had cancelled his trip to the Dubai Expo. Coincidentally the question was asked at the same time.
Abela responded that he had cancelled this trip because he wanted to attend a memorial in Strasbourg for late European Parliament President David Sassoli, which took place on Monday evening.
“The European Parliament had extended an invitation to leaders to attend this memorial and I felt it was my priority to be there with other leaders, including the Prime Ministers of Italy, Luxembourg, Greece and Croatia, and pay my respects to Sassoli, who was a great friend of mine. I also held an important meeting with [European Parliament president] Roberta Metsola.”
Abela didn’t explain why he flew straight back to Malta right after his visit to Strasbourg instead of first travelling to the UAE for the Dubai Expo, which is still ongoing.
He ignored questions on whether this change of plan had anything to do with a Wednesday police raid on his predecessor Joseph Muscat and whether he had any prior knowledge about this raid.
Stagno Navarra’s show last night also included interviews with Research Minister Owen Bonnici and Labour MP Jonathan Attard about the raid on Muscat’s home.
Bonnici criticised PN MP Jason Azzopardi, who he claimed had hinted on Facebook last week that he had known of plans to raid Muscat’s home.
“I disagree with rule of law a la Jason Azzopardi, who talks about the justice sector as though he were talking about a movie trailer,” Bonnici said. “He’s trying to turn justice into a political game and give people an impression that he knows something that others don’t know.”
“People are moving away from the PN because they want proper and fair administration of justice. People’s respect towards the justice sector should be repaid with justice that is done and seen to be done.”
Attard said the government is committed to strengthening the nation’s institutions while the PN is “pressuring them to satisfy its own thirst for power”.
Lovin Malta reported today that Abela has been calling PL MPs and Ministers for private meetings in Castille to deal with the fallout of the police search on Muscat, informing them to present a message of party unity to voters within their respective localities.
Muscat’s home was raided by police this week in connection with payments he had received from Accutor AG, a Swiss company run by lawyer Wasay Bhatti which had received €3.6 million from Steward Healthcare during the period it had taken over the hospitals concession from Vitals Global Healthcare.
As reported by Times of Malta last November, Muscat received some €60,000 from Accutor AG in consultancy fees shortly after his 2019 resignation as Prime Minister in the wake of a political crisis sparked by Yorgen Fenech’s arrest for the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
However, Matthew Caruana Galizia – son of Daphne Caruana Galizia – said today that Muscat’s contract with Accutor AG was actually worth €540,000, €15,000 per month for a minimum of 36 months.
“The payments only paused when UBS flagged them and closed Accutor’s accounts. Unless he can prove the contract is terminated by mutual agreement, €480,000 is still due to Muscat,” he tweeted.
After the raid, Muscat said he had prepared a file with all information regarding his relationship with Accutor AG, including projects he worked on and trips he had taken, back in November after Times of Malta revealed the payments.
He said he had asked magistrate Gabriella Vella to testify and present this information to her but that his request was turned down.
“For one reason or another, the path of theatrics was chosen. Maybe someone wanted to send a message that police entered my home,” Muscat said.
Why do you think Abela cancelled his trip to Dubai?
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