PN Summons Mayor Albert Buttigieg To Ethics, Discipline And Social Media Commission On Monday
St Julian’s mayor Albert Buttigieg has been told to appear in front of the PN’s Ethics, Discipline and Social Media Commission on Monday evening to discuss his claim that a party official had colluded with a big businessman to undermine his election campaign.
Buttigieg confirmed with Lovin Malta that Professor Joe Pirotta, who chairs the commission, called him up today to give him a Monday date to answer some questions. This means the internal process to take disciplinary action against him could start a mere two days after Bernard Grech’s re-confirmation as PN leader.
“I asked [Pirotta] if I was being accused of anything and he told me I’m not but that he would like me to clarify some issues,” Buttigieg said. “I’m very serene and have nothing to hide.”
As for the risk of potential disciplinary action, Buttigieg argued that “John the Baptist’s head was cut off and he is still considered a hero 2,000 days later, while the person who cut his head off is still considered an assassin”.
“Better to die on your feet than live on your knees,” he said.
In a Times of Malta article earlier this month, Buttigieg said that a long-standing acquaintance of his informed him of a meeting that took place at the beginning of the year between a high-ranking non-elected PN official and a ‘fat cat’ at a hotel.
Without naming the two people, the mayor said the businessman has “vast commercial and construction interests in St Julian’s” and that he only found out about it after the election.
The mayor said the businessman specifically asked the PN official to “shut him [Buttigieg] up” and that the party official promised to oblige. He also suggested this alleged meeting may be why he was sidelined by the PN machine during the general election campaign.
Although Buttigieg didn’t name any names, Ray Bezzina – who was the PN’s head of secretariat before moving to the db Group – suggested the mayor was referring to him.
The PN initially gave Buttigieg 24 hours to substantiate his allegation in front of the Ethics, Discipline and Social Media Commission but later backtracked from this strict ultimatum.
A PN spokesperson denied that this was a case of backtracking as Bezzina had requested an investigation to the same Commission about the same issue within those 24 hours.
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