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9 Quotes From Adrian Delia’s Challenge To Rebel MPs Over Busuttil Banishment

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Opposition leader Adrian Delia last night threw down the gauntlet to his MPs who publicly criticised his decision to kick his predecessor Simon Busuttil out of the PN In light of the Egrant inquiry.

The PN is currently in the throes of internal warfare, with ten MPs publicly backing Busuttil, seven backing Delia and 11 still on the fence. Yet the PN leader struck a confident figure as he was interviewed on Iswed Fuq l-Abjad, arguing he is taking the party through a cleansing process that, while painful, will ultimately see it regain credibility.

Delia spoke for a good hour and these are the main highlights of his intervention.

1. ‘The people didn’t take us seriously’

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PN MEP candidate Michael Briguglio addresses a protest last year in the wake of the Egrant story

“The PN had built practically its entire political campaign on these allegations of corruption, and in the final days before the election, everything was based on this blessed company Egrant. In retrospect, we were far too rash, and as a result of this campaign the vast majority of Maltese people didn’t believe us but believed in Joseph Muscat. As a lawyer, I have learned not to rush to conclusions until I have the facts in hand, and magistrate Aaron Bugeja – whose reputation is indisputable – has now dismissed all the Egrant allegations and flagged serious inconsistencies”.

2. ‘I didn’t need to wait before dismissing Busuttil’

“The Prime Minister took a very strong position and the Opposition couldn’t remain silent. For the sake of political equality of arms, I have asked the Attorney General for a full copy of the inquiry and he informed me that while the law only permits him to do so in exceptional circumstances, he will consider whether my request falls into that category. However, the published conclusions are so crystal clear in their dismissal of their allegations that they were enough for me to take action.”

3. ‘Konrad and Keith are not in the clear’

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Konrad Mizzi has claimed the Egrant report dismissed all corruption allegations against him

“Joseph Muscat and Konrad Mizzi were not correct when they said this inquiry exonerated everyone. Two other magisterial inquiries on alleged corruption by Keith Schembri are still ongoing and a third one on the Panama Papers is being blocked by the Prime Minister and his friends. The fact remains that Mizzi and Schembri held offshore structures and for this alone they should have already shouldered political responsibility. We will keep on insisting that this responsibility is shouldered by either them or Muscat.”

4. ‘Not everything is black’

“As magistrate Bugeja said, ‘100 threads of suspicion don’t stitch together a single strand of proof’. If we want to be credible on corruption, we cannot say that everything is black without any proof, but focus on the real factual cases such as the government’s sale of our hospitals to unknown people. While it is the duty of journalists to write stories and ask questions, it is the duty of politicians to determine which stories they should make their own. We won’t stop asking who Egrant belonged to but we cannot say it belonged to Michelle Muscat when the inquiry clearly said it didn’t. We have an obligation to democracy to build a strong Opposition and to do so, we must be humble enough to admit where we went wrong. It’s pointless to cry about the rule of law if we don’t accept judgements handed out by the judiciary.”

5. ‘This is not a personal campaign against Busuttil’

“This is absolutely not a personal campaign against anyone, No one is bigger than the PN; that’s how the party developed and that’s how it will always be. If we truly believe in democracy and the truth, then we must practice it ourselves and not just expect others to do so. We have shouldered political responsibility for our poor political judgement, and we will now wait and see what Joe Muscat will do in the face of far more serious problems. We have shown how high our standards are, which will give us more credibility to pressure the government into adopting the same yardstick. If Labour is happy at my decision [to fire Busuttil] because they think it means I don’t care about fighting corruption, then they have another thing coming. I’ll keep my mouth shut when theres no proof but I will then come down like a tonne of bricks on the government when I have facts in hand.”

6. ‘Do the rebel MPs even believe in democracy?’

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Former PN deputy leaders Mario de Marco and Beppe Fenech Adami have both backed Simon Busuttil

“I joined the party when it was at its weakest because I wanted to change the way we do things and therefore halt the slide. I ask my MPs whether they truly have the best interests of the PN and the country at heart? Do they want to tie themselves down to a single person or to the truth and democracy? Do they even believe in democracy?”

7. ‘I expect us to lose some people but emerge stronger’

“I expect we will lose some people because of this decision, but I’m also convinced that we are on the right track towards building stronger foundations. Let’s read this inquiry together and allow reason to triumph and then let’s join forces to fight our enemy – not the Labour Party, but lies, hatred and corruption – with the weapons of unity and the truth. While we will run through the flames, we will emerge stronger. This process must happen for the country’s sake or we’ll end up with a misbalance in democracy because a party is incapable of calling black black and white white.”

8. ‘Stop trying to seize power and start meeting people’

“What’s the point of this fight in the first place anyway? Is it for the sake of a person, for a faction, for power, or because you’re in politics to help people on the street? How many doors did the PN knock on in the past few months and who knocked on them? Who visited people? I know that I meet people everyday and others amongst us do so. I got into politics in the first place because the PN had stopped listening to the people and indeed I meet hundreds of people everyday. However, I want others to join me and I want Opposition MPs to knock on the doors of people in our villages instead of on the internal doors of the people. Let’s turn our principles and values into policies that will truly improve people’s lives.”

9. ‘I am not making the FIAU report my own’

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PN MEP David Casa published a FIAU report in full yesterday

“A FIAU report has just been published [by PN MEP David Casa] and although it’s only a draft, its conclusions are clear in that there’s enough evidence for the police to investigate Konrad Mizzi for money laundering. The government did its utmost to dismiss this report and, although I’m not making it my own, it must certainly be investigated properly. We have a right to know whether it is being investigated or not, and Mizzi cannot see he’s in the clear yet.”

READ NEXT: Prime Minister And Caruana Galizias In War Of Words Over Egrant Inquiry

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Tim is interested in the rapid evolution of human society and is passionate about justice, human rights and cutting-edge political debates. You can follow him on Instagram or Twitter/X at @timdiacono or reach out to him at [email protected]

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