It was all-out war between Labour secretary-general Jason Micallef and his Nationalist counterpart Joe Saliba on the subject of the absent culture of resignations in Maltese politics. Before entering the studio the two heavyweights made it a point not to talk to each other, even refusing to shake hands with each other.
Chairing the discussion show Reporter, produced by MediaToday, on TVM yesterday night was Saviour Balzan.
In a debate which gave a taste of what’s to come in the forthcoming electoral campaign, the general secretaries of the two main parties hurled abuse at each other about the scandals committed by the other side.
Joe Saliba referred to a number of irregularities committed when the Labour Party was in government between 1996 and 1998, insisted that no one from the MLP had resigned in reply to Micallef’s jibes on the lack of resignations from the Nationalist government.
Saliba said that after the 1996 electoral victory, the Labour Government granted an amnesty to prisoners at the Corradino Correctional Facility which led to the discharge from prison of the two men found guilty of murder in February 1999.
Other irregularities mentioned by Saliba included the Lay Lay scandal, involving former Labour minister Alfred Portelli, the irregularities committed by Parliamentary Secretary Joe Cilia, and the granting of an architect’s warrant to Labour candidate Martin Debono despite the fact that his qualifications were not recognised.
On his part, Micallef referred to a number of abuses committed by the present Nationalist government since it was elected to government in 2003. He said last year the Auditor General published a damning report on the operations of the Voice of the Mediterranean (VOM) radio station under the chairmanship of Richard Muscat, revealing a number of irregularities committed by Muscat.
In a prepared list he pointed to the Special Cleaners saga, a company owned by Emanuela Camilleri, the wife of convict Mario Camilleri known as L-Imniehru, and his son Pierre, which company was granted the contract for the cleaning of the Law Courts and the offices of the private secretariat of Parliamentary Secretary Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici.
Micallef also referred to the recent cash-for-licences scandals at the ADT and the MMA under the political responsibility of Minister for Urban Roads and Development Jesmond Mugliett and Minister for Competitiveness and Communications Censu Galea respectively.
Reporter screened interviews with Ministers Jesmond Mugliett and Censu Galea, who were both quizzed over their role in reacting to the allegations of abuse in the authorities under their helm.