Former MP Charlo Bonnici is chairing an internal disciplinary and ethics board appointed by the Nationalist Party to probe the conduct of Herman Schiavone who suspended himself from the parliamentary group last month.
Dr Schiavone made the decision after it emerged he and general council president Kristy Debono met Tumas Group CEO Yorgen Fenech, who also owns Dubai company 17 Black.
Party insiders told the Times of Malta that the board is formed of “close collaborators” of leader Adrian Delia. They included former MP Michael Asciak, administrative council president David Stellini and Nazju Abela, an activist from Rabat.
No formal announcement has been made by the PN so far.
The disciplinary board, the sources said, would summon Dr Schiavone and then decide whether disciplinary action should be taken against him. However, nothing was likely to happen before the MEP and local elections later this month to avoid having the controversy surfacing during the campaign, they added.
Contacted yesterday, Dr Schiavone said he had not yet been summoned by the board.
Insisting there was nothing wrong in meeting Mr Fenech and asking him for a conference sponsorship, he said that he felt “serene”.
Nothing wrong in meeting Mr Fenech
The meeting, which was revealed by The Sunday Times of Malta last month, led to harsh criticism, particularly among party activists.
According to a leaked e-mail, 17 Black had been indicated by Nexia BT as one of the companies transferring funds to secret Panama companies set up by Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi and the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, Keith Schembri, after the 2013 election.
Party activists had called for the resignation of both Dr Schiavone and Ms Debono, arguing that a party fighting corruption could not be taken seriously by the electorate if, at the same time, its MPs were seeking sponsorships from the owner of 17 Black who also formed part of a consortium involved in the controversial Electrogas power station deal.
Dr Schiavone had specified that he had come up with the idea of having meeting the Tumas Group and that neither Dr Delia nor Ms Debono were aware he would be meeting Mr Fenech.
The last time the PN had set up a disciplinary board was shortly before the PN leadership contest to looking into allegations associating Dr Delia with suspected money laundering operations and proceeds from prostitution.
The party administrative council had called upon Dr Delia to reconsider his candidacy after the ethics committee concluded that though it was mindful of Dr Delia’s professional secrecy, there were aspects of the allegations that were not clear and needed to be explained, including an alleged Barclays offshore account in his name in Jersey and the source of those funds.
Dr Delia went ahead with his candidacy and won the leadership race.