An unexpected last-minute revelation in the final televised debate before the 8 March elections by former Labour leader Alfred Sant, who unveiled a contractual agreement proving the consent and knowledge of Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando over the development of a disco in Mistra, sent shockwaves through the Nationalist Party.
But the revelation was so worrying, that on the evening of the debate, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi warned the Nationalist MP that the revelation could lose the PN the general elections.
More ominously, he warned Pullicino Orlando he would be blamed for the loss.
Despite the disastrous revelation by Sant, believed to have cost the PN several thousands of votes at the eleventh hour, the PN was intent in appearing by Pullicino Orlando’s side to endorse the MP and portray him as a victim of Sant’s mudslinging.
Indeed, despite Pullicino Orlando’s unstinting declaration that he was unaware of who had applied for a permit to build a 4,000-capacity disco on his land at Mistra, Labour was slowly releasing bits of information confirming his knowledge of the case.
The first was the release of a MEPA consent form – sent by his architect – to confirm Pullicino Orlando’s consent to a third party, Ian Sultana, to apply for the disco on his land.
And yet, while Pullicino Orlando protested his innocence and ignorance of the project that had been earmarked on his land, the PN did not nothing to quell his antics in the week that Alfred Sant publicised his revelations.
Indeed, he was accompanied by PN officials to stake out Alfred Sant’s press conference, and in the most memorable showdown of the election, accompanied by party secretary-general Joe Saliba and information secretary Gordon Pisani to the Broadcasting Authority press conference.
He was supplied with a temporary press card to stand in as a NET TV journalist to face Sant during the BA press conference, with Saliba and Pisani standing their ground at PBS, saying Pullicino Orlando had a right to be in the studios.
The endorsement by Saliba enabled Pullicino Orlando to keep his party’s support in the general elections, managing to get elected in both his two districts.
However, it was Labour’s inability to publicise a private agreement between Pullicino Orlando and Domenic Micallef, for the construction of the disco on the Mistra land, that allowed the PN to stem the haemorrhage of votes.
Labour got its hands on just two pages of the agreement, which it disseminated on Thursday afternoon, just a day before the day of reflection. That evening, Sant made fleeting reference to the contract in his final televised debate with Lawrence Gonzi, but did not stress enough to drive the point home that Pullicino Orlando had known of the disco project.
It was too late in the day for Labour to milk the agreement, but the Nationalist Party’s continuous support for its MP enabled it to limit the damage.