Bernard Grech has called on Robert Abela to shoulder political responsibility and undo all links between Malta and Electrogas, the consortium behind a controversial energy supply deal.
The Opposition leader was reacting to news that a Chinese negotiator involved in multi-million euro deals by Enemalta is behind a secret company suspected of being set up to pay kickbacks to Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi.
The revelations were made by Times of Malta, Reuters and other journalism partners, who uncovered how Macbridge International Development is owned by Tang Zhaomin, the mother-in-law of Accenture negotiator Chen Cheng.
Cheng negotiated a €320 million part sale of Enemalta to the Chinese state-owned company Shanghai Electric Power.
Macbridge was named in a 2015 email as one of two companies intended to pump money into secret offshore Panama companies which Schembri and Mizzi took ownership of that year.
Grech on Monday said the work of journalists from Times of Malta's Jacob Borg to Daphne Caruana Galizia showed how the Labour party had promised a dream and produced a nightmare instead.
Monday’s revelations confirmed the institutionalised corruption in Joseph Muscat and Abela’s government, he said.
They were also proof that the institutions were not working and that taxpayers’ assets and money had not been spent in the national interest. Instead, Schembri and Mizzi had pocketed money under the nose of Abela who continued to defend actions that had cost the people millions of euro, Grech said.
“Abela needs to shoulder political responsibility. He should immediately kick start a process that would see the country rid itself of the links with Electrogas and start an investigation into the matter,” Grech said.
“It is now clearer, more than ever, that there was corruption wherever there was Muscat, Schembri and Mizzi. If Abela doesn’t act, he will also be an accomplice,” he added.
Caruana Galizia Foundation calls for fresh charges
The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation has meanwhile called for fresh charges against Yorgen Fenech, Schembri and Mizzi, and for Chen to be extradited to Malta to face justice.
"We also expect Muscat’s role in the Shanghai Electric Power and Montenegro wind farm deals to be fully investigated by the Maltese authorities.
"Action must be taken against Accenture, Chen’s employer and a consultant on the part-sale of Malta’s state energy company to Chinese state-owned enterprise Shanghai Electric Power in 2013," the foundation said in a statement.
Accenture has known about Chen’s implication in corruption and illicit offshore dealings since 2016 and has chosen to retain him, suggesting that his actions are endorsed by his employer, it added.