'I've not spoken to any judge about the chief justice role': Alex Borg

Updated 12.30pm

Alex Borg said on Thursday he had not spoken to any judge about the chief justice role, after it was revealed in a bombshell letter to cabinet ministers that the prime minister had met a sitting judge over the matter.

On Tuesday, Times of Malta revealed that Judge Lawrence (Wenzu) Mintoff had sent a letter to the cabinet with a series of allegations made under oath against the prime minister.

In his five-page letter to cabinet, Mintoff asks for Robert Abela to be removed from talks, negotiations and decisions on the appointment of the new Chief Justice, claiming the prime minister is biased against him.

Among others, in the letter, Mintoff claimed he had met Abela to discuss the appointment.

On Wednesday, Abela confirmed he had met Mintoff, but said the PN's Joe Giglio had also met with members of the judiciary to ask them if they were interested in becoming chief justice.

He told journalists there was no ethical issue with meeting members of the judiciary to discuss the appointment of a chief justice and that it was “obvious” he would hold such meetings. 

On Thursday, the PN leader said in a video posted on Facebook that Abela had not denied any of the claims. 

Borg added that the public expected integrity from politicians and did not want a process such as the appointment of a chief justice to be turned into a political football.

Borg said that he himself had acted with integrity towards Abela from the very beginning of the process: he put forward four names to be considered for the role.

He also maintained confidentiality, "as well as respect for and distance from the judiciary, as should always be the case".

He said that at no point did he speak to any judge about this position.

Borg added that despite more than 48 hours having passed since Mintoff's sworn statement, "Abela has yet to deny a single accusation made by the judge".

"It is now clear more why anything proposed by the Opposition - whether proposals to improve people’s lives or a nomination made in the national interest, is rejected by the Prime Minister simply because the PN came up with it. 

"People want cooperation. This is something I offered throughout this entire process for the well-being of the Maltese and Gozitan people.

"We have reached this point because of the Prime Minister’s behaviour," he said.

'Opposition’s deafening silence continues': PL

Reacting to Borg's statement, the PL said the Opposition leader has still not said whether he agrees with the government's nomination of Miriam Hayman for the chief justice role.

"It is surreal that the leader of the opposition is waiting for answers when it is he who must provide a reply on the proposal put forward by the government.

"Borg has not replied because he has already lost control over his own party. Extremists are dictating that he should not respond to the government’s nomination because, for them, partisan interest is far more important than what’s in the best interest of our country," the party said in a statement.

The PL slammed the "deafening silence", saying the opposition continued to "choose not to decide".