Left: Old Mint Street in Valletta, Right: Mark Gaffarena 

The government’s controversial expropriation of half a palazzo in Old Mint Street, Valletta from businessman Mark Gaffarena has been declared null and void by the court. 

The case goes back to 2015 when The Times of Malta revealed that the Lands Department had paid Gaffarena €3.4 million in cash and massive tracts of land to expropriate two separate quarters of the palazzo. The National Audit Office then condemned the government for failing to safeguard the public interest, Michael Falzon (today social policy minister) was forced to resign as parliamentary secretary for planning, and the Lands Department was revamped as the Lands Authority.  

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat then filed a court case to revoke the deal and recoup the lands the government had lost.

Following the news, Nationalist MP and former Opposition leader Simon Busuttil demanded Joseph Muscat shoulder political responsibility. Back when the deal was carried out, the parliamentary secretariat for planning was housed in Castille and fell under the remit of the Office of the Prime Minister. 

Opposition leader Adrian Delia called on Muscat to fie a similar court case to reclaim the St Luke’s, Gozo and Karin Grech hospitals from Steward Global Health Care.  

However, Muscat referred to comments that Busuttil had passed while he was Opposition leader in 2015, which claimed that the Prime Minister’s court case against Gaffarena was “designed to be lost”. 

READ NEXT: All You Need To Know About The Times’ News Editor Joining PN

Tim Diacono

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]