Watch: ‘PN Knew €400 Million Steward Claim Was A Lie’ – Robert Abela
Prime Minister Robert Abela said the Nationalist Party failed to raise its claim that Steward stole €400 million in public funds before the ICC tribunal because it knew the allegation was false.
Addressing Parliament, Abela said the PN could have submitted an ‘Amicus Curiae’ brief to the ICC, just as the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation had done.
“If you truly believed that Steward robbed us of €400 million, why didn’t you defend the national interest and tell the ICC that this money should be returned?” he asked PN MPs.
“You didn’t go down this route because you knew that it was a lie and that the ICC, which follows proof and not spin, would have thrown it out.”
Abela reiterated that the government only paid Steward for medical services and hospital administration and that it received fair value for its money.
In fact, Steward argued that it should have received more subsidies since the government forked out more money for the same services at Mater Dei.
Steward was expected to generate profits by introducing medical tourism at the hospitals it was supposed to redevelop out of its own pockets.
“The PN is deceiving people when it claims that the government paid Steward to redevelop the three hospitals and introduce medical tourism.”
“The government only paid Steward for the medical services it delivered, which were certified as being of good quality and fair value.”
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