Following Gatt’s statement, the Opposition unleashed a scathing attack on the minister, with Leo Brincat demanding his resignation and a magisterial inquiry.
Gatt levelled accusations at the Opposition for “spinning the story through MaltaToday with the clear intention of misleading police investigations”.
“I know for sure that the person involved knew everything that had happened at MITTS and spun the story to mislead the police,” Gatt alleged repeatedly.
Immediately, Alfred Sant interjected, demanding that Gatt reveal who he was referring to: “The minister said he knew ‘for sure’ who this person was and what this person knew, so I demand an explanation, otherwise even I will stop trusting what is said in this Parliament.”
Gatt replied with the astonishing claim that “the person who misled the police was Sant”, to which Sant claimed breach of privilege.
“I categorically deny this allegation… I challenge the minister to produce the evidence of what he is saying and am hereby putting a complaint of breach of privilege… It’s a breach of privilege in my regard and he’s lying to the entire House.”
Speaker Louis Galea said he will take a decision on the breach of privilege complaint at a later stage.
Opposition leader Joseph Muscat said it was shocking to hear that the attack was orchestrated by amateurs.
He asked why MPs were not informed earlier, and asked Gatt how he could guarantee that there had been no illegal access of MPs’ emails. Muscat also asked whether Gatt was effectively taking on responsibility by refusing the directors’ resignations.
Leo Brincat said this was an extremely serious matter that in other countries would have had political repercussions.
The most shocking declaration was that there were “merely operational shortcomings”.
“The minister has just declared that security policies and procedures were regularly ignored. What cheek has he got not to come and offer his resignation? In the absence of this, it is now up to the Prime Minister to take action. The buck now stops at the Prime Minister’s office, and he should accept the request for a magisterial inquiry.”
Brincat also asked whether Gatt could confirm that the MITTS chief was abroad. Gatt confirmed and added: “It’s shameful that he had to go abroad on holiday in the midst of all this trouble. He shouldn’t have gone.”
However Gatt said he did not believe a magisterial inquiry had to be launched.
He added that, upon the MITTS experts’ initial assumption that it was “highly unlikely” that passwords were stolen, he did not even inform the prime minister about the incident, nor did he bother changing his own password.
“Were it not for the board, we wouldn’t even have had the forced password change on 10 September,” Gatt claimed.
Gatt claimed that attacks on the government server happened “on a weekly basis” but the system was well equipped against such attacks. It was weaker as regards internal security, where procedures were not being followed, he claimed.
Any comments?
If you wish your comments to be published in our Letters pages please click button below. Please write a contact number and a postal address where you may be contacted.
Download front page in pdf file format
Editorial
Sending the wrong message Last week the Emigrants’ Commission issued a statement reacting to the Migration Pact, and the inclusion of a “burden sharing” agreement with the European Union.Editorial >
Artists, art critics and friends unanimously gather to remember the impact and value of Ebba von Fersen Balzan’s work and her strong connection with the Maltese islands
