Six Labour MPs have admitted they have asked for presidential pardons for their clients, in their roles as criminal lawyers – news that will come as sweet music for the Nationalist spin machine.
Of eight criminal lawyers serving as Labour MPs, only one denied ever asking for a presidential pardon, while another lawyer could not be contacted.
The list includes Labour’s own shadow minister for home affairs Gavin Gulia, shadow minister for justice Anglu Farrugia, and MPs Chris Cardona, José Herrera, Justyn Caruana and Joseph Sammut, who confirmed they had all asked for presidential pardons.
Gozitan MP Anton Refalo could not be contacted yesterday, while Joe Brincat said he had never asked for presidential pardons for any of his clients.
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi would not be drawn into mentioning any of Labour’s members whom he said, while addressing parliament during the motion of no-confidence against Roads Minister Jesmond Mugliett advanced by the Opposition, had also requested presidential pardons for their convicted clients.
A spokesperson for Gonzi said the prime minister felt he had to “respect the confidentiality” of the MPs who had written to him by electronic mail.
The reply contrasts with Gonzi’s outburst in parliament, where he accused Labour of hypocrisy in its attack over the request for a presidential pardon for indicted ADT officials, by lawyer Jason Azzopardi, a Nationalist MP.
Gonzi claimed he had received emails from Labour MPs asking him specifically for presidential pardons.
The rumpus over the pardon came to light after Mugliett suggested to the CEO of the transport authority (ADT) to stall the sacking of the two officials who had been banned from public service by a court after being found guilty of corruption, pending the outcome of the presidential pardon – and instead suspend them and keep them on half pay.
With Labour’s own MPs involved in the controversial demand for pardons for sentenced individuals, the revelation further affects the public’s confidence in a political class increasingly dominated by lawyers.
In the past, presidential pardons to individuals such as Joseph Fenech aka Zeppi l-Hafi, and Brazilian drug trafficker Queiroz have led the Opposition to cry foul.