Prime Minister Urges PN MP Jason Azzopardi To Shoulder Responsibility For Cheap Qormi Complex Sale
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has urged Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi to shoulder political responsibility for the way public land in Qormi was sold on the cheap under his watch as parliamentary minister for lands.
Muscat called out Azzopardi during an interview on ONE this morning, after the PN MP list a libel case on appeal that he had instigated against Justice Minister Owen Bonnici. In his ruling, judge Anthony Ellul said that the land was sold to Zaren Vassallo while Azzopardi was politically responsible for land and that the PN MP “must shoulder political responsibility for what took place under his watch whether he likes it or not.”
Nazzareno Vassallo (Photo: Vassallo Group)
“If a sentence like that had been handed to anyone else, including to someone from his own party, Jason Azzopardi would have cried out for their resignation, but instead he has remained silent,” Muscat said. “The Opposition leader hasn’t commented either, missing his first chance to show that he means business and that the PN is in his hands.”
“It appears as though the rule of law applies to everyone but not to Jason Azzopardi.”
Azzopardi had sued Bonnici for libel in 2017 after the minister said he had sworn information that the PN MP had, back when he was parliamentary secretary for government lands, used his influence to ensure the former Löwenbräu brewery in Qormi was sold to businessman Zaren Vassallo for €706,400, despite the National Audit Office having valued the land at €8 million.
Although the court could find no evidence that Azzopardi had actually spoken to Vassallo, it ruled that the PN politician should shoulder political responsibility for the deal.
The land in question has since been developed into the Landmark Business Centre, a massive complex, composed of retail outlets, a LIDL supermarket, cafes, offices and a multi-purpose hall, all surrounded by gardens.
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