Watch: PN MP David Agius Leafs Through Double-Sided ElectroGas Report To Show How Tough Work Ahead Is
PN deputy leader David Agius brought out a copy of the National Audit Office’s ElectroGas investigation during a recent interview to drive home just how tough the road ahead is for Opposition members of the Public Accounts Committee.
“We’re not talking about two or five pages here but all of this and most paragraphs require analysis,” Agius said as PN MP Graham Bencini, who also sits on the PAC, pointed out the pages were double-sided.
“We will show you how serious we are that the NAO investigation should be prioritised. The government wants it to have an end date but we don’t believe in parliamentary guillotines. We will provide an entire list of witnesses next week and start summoning them one by one, and we are ready to convene two or three times a week if needs be. We hope the witnesses respond our questions properly.”
Agius added that the Opposition is ready for the PAC to discuss other issues in parallel with the ElectroGas report, including a report on poverty that government MPs proposed.
@lovinmaltaofficial What do you make of David Aguis’ statement? 👀 #fyp #lovinmalta #malta #davidaguis ♬ original sound – Lovin Malta
Meanwhile, Bencini said the Opposition is determined to conclude the ElectroGas as quickly as possible, both because they want the truth to emerge and because the MPs on the panel also have full-time jobs.
“We must remember that we are only part-time MPs and that we have full-time jobs we must go to in between committee session, party and parliamentary group meetings and Parliament,” he pointed out. “It is in the interest of all MPs, particularly those on the Opposition, to act efficiently.”
He also urged the four government MPs on the PAC – Andy Ellul, Clayton Bartolo, Glenn Bedingfield and Alex Muscat – to join the Opposition in posing inquisitive questions to witnesses like former Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi, who oversaw the ElectroGas contract.
Former Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi testifying at the PAC during the last legislature
“Rather than defending the likes of Mizzi, we hope they pull the same rope as us because at the end of the day, we should all be on the same side as we all took an oath to safeguard the public interest,” Bencini said. “If we don’t all act as a single team in favour of the truth, then we’ll be failing the public.”
The PAC started investigating the NAO’s ElectroGas report during the last legislature, with Beppe Fenech Adami, Karol Aquilina and Ryan Callus the three original Opposition MPs on the panel.
Meetings were often characterised by filibustering on Mizzi’s end, as well as shouting matches between the former minister and the three PN MPs, with Mizzi’s voice sometimes even turning hoarse.
There were also tit-for-tats between Karol Aquilina and lawyers Giannella De Marco, who represented former ElectroGas director Paul Apap Bologna, and Carol Peralta, one of Mizzi’s two lawyers.
At one point, Aquilina even took a jab at Peralta over his links to Freemasonry.
Following the general election, all three PN MPs were replaced, by Agius, Bencini and Darren Carabott, who is chairing the committee. Bencini and Carabott are both new MPs, while Agius has been serving since 2003 but has never sat on the PAC until now.
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