Joseph Muscat Asked Fearne To Protect Him From Investigations If He Became Prime Minister. ‘Inżabbab’ Was His Response
Former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat allegedly attempted to strike a deal with former Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne that would have seen him shielded from any investigations in return for his support for Fearne’s bid to become party leader and Prime Minister back in 2020.
The allegation was made public by Repubblika lawyer Jason Azzopardi, who was a guest on Emmy Bezzina’s programme Kulħadd Jgħid Tiegħu on Smash this evening. The former MP claimed that that Fearne had confided in him that he was prevented from becoming Prime Minister because he refused to guarantee Muscat and Steward Health Care’s protection.
The US hospitals operator has been accused of involvement in misappropriation, bribery and fraud among other crimes identified in a magisterial inquiry into the concession. Steward Health Care had taken over the concession after the original operators, Vitals Global Healthcare, were forced out by the government. The concession was declared null by a Maltese court last year.
“Jason, know that the reason I am not Prime Minister is because of Steward,” Azzopardi claimed to have been told by Fearne as he made him a cup of coffee at his home.
Muscat was forced to resign in December 2019 shortly after the arrest of Yorgen Fenech and Muscat’s chief of staff Keith Schembri in relation to the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia. The arrests cast the country into a month of political turmoil which ended with the Labour Party electing a new leader to take over from Muscat as Prime Minister.
Fearne was the favourite to take over from Muscat, who had always said that he would not stay for longer than two terms. Up until midway through the campaign, Fearne enjoyed a significant lead in the polls and this was the time he was approached by Muscat.
According to Azzopardi, Muscat first requested that he protect Steward if he became Prime Minister, with Fearne refusing to entertain the request. Muscat apparently then sought to ensure his own protection by asking Fearne to guarantee that he would not face any police investigations or otherwise under his leadership. “Inżabbab,” was Fearne’s reply.
Fearne apparently told Azzopardi that from that very night, Joseph and Michelle Muscat started campaigning for Robert Abela and managed to turn the tide in his favour.
Lovin Malta has reached out to Fearne for comment but has not yet received a reply. In comments to the Times of Malta, Muscat described the allegations as “hogwash”.
If confirmed, Azzopardi’s comments raise questions about whether Muscat had a similar conversation with Abela, and if so, what Abela responded.
Prior to Muscat’s resignation, names like those of Foreign Minister Ian Borg and Energy Minister Miriam Dalli were the ones seen as most likely to replace Muscat. While an Abela run for leadership wasn’t totally surprising, he definitely wasn’t the preference of the vast majority of Labour delegates during that period at the end of 2019.
It was at this time that Abela, who had declared his desire to replace Muscat, uploaded a cryptic post in which he said he was not willing to take part in any “pact with the devil”.
It is understood that the pact would have seen the leadership race scrapped in return for Fearne taking over from Muscat, Borg being named Deputy Prime Minister and Abela, then a backbencher, made a minister and Labour deputy leader.
What do you make of these allegations?
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