The president of the Malta Developers Association, Michael Stivala, has sued independent politician Arnold Cassola over a series of Facebook comments involving him and former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat.

In the first post, featured last Friday, Cassola claimed that “Stivala was gifted various illegalities” under Muscat’s premiership and that now, after stepping down as prime minister, Muscat was “Stivala’s consultant.”

Another post, running along the same lines, was uploaded on Sunday.

Titled “Robert Abela: lying about Joseph Muscat,” the post read that “Joseph Muscat got his 'so-called consultancies'  from Accutor and Stivala in 2020, soon after his resignation.”

That post was followed by another one on Monday morning wherein Cassola once again wrote about “Joseph Muscat’s payback time….Consultant with Stivala.”

Cassola's posts stem from a Times of Malta exclusive which revealed how Stivala put Muscat on his payroll as a consultant, months after the latter resigned as prime minister. 

Stivala filed for libel hours after the latest post, calling for the magistrate's court to hold Cassola responsible for libel damages.

Those comments, he said,  gave a false impression and were intended solely to impinge upon the reputation, integrity and honour. 

Lawyer Vincent Galea signed the application.