“They lied and invented as much as they could about me,” Rosianne Cutajar protested, “the commissioner chose to believe others not me”.
Unfortunately for Cutajar, her prime minister believes those others too. He confirmed Cutajar will not be reinstated. She’s lucky that Robert Abela and Labour are so compromised by what came before that they dare not kick her out of the party – and didn’t she know it.
Cutajar is guilty of breach of ethics for pocketing thousands of euros in a property transfer deal involving Yorgen Fenech. The standards commissioner recommended that she be investigated by the tax department for failing to declare the income in her tax return.
Worse still, her version of events was “diametrically opposite” to that presented by others. Like Ian Borg before her, Rosianne Cutajar was not believed. The commissioner was convinced she lied.
Last Sunday evening, before the prime minister had even seen the report, Cutajar went on the offensive.
She attacked the commissioner, accusing him of serious failures and double standards.
She attacked a third party, Joe Camilleri, who tried to recoup thousands of euros from Cutajar and her aide , Charles Farrugia.
Shamelessly she announced “I will remain a Labour Party MP” and that she would “recontest the next election”.
That decision is not hers. It is the party’s. With utter disrespect towards the prime minister and her party, Cutajar made her statement before letting Abela express his views first or allowing the party to discuss the report and reach a conclusion. Her strategy was to twist Abela’s arm. Her aim was to constrain the party to accept her decision through a pre-emptive strike.
Like the commissioner, Abela was convinced that Cutajar was lying. Even Glenn Bedingfield and Edward Zammit Lewis voted for the commissioner’s report to be made public. Cutajar was left out in the cold.
Cutajar shamed her party. Her greed dragged the prime minister into an embarrassing corner. The detailed report exposes the deviousness and dishonesty of Cutajar and her right-hand man, Farrugia, ‘it-Tikka’.
Despite overwhelming evidence, Cutajar vehemently denied she had anything to do with the sale. She denied profiting from the deal. But Cutajar confessed to a list of damning actions.
She introduced Fenech as a prospective buyer and even toured the Mdina property with him, when Fenech had already been exposed as the owner of 17 Black linked to Konrad Mizzi’s and Keith Schembri’s secret offshore companies.
She lunched at a Marsamxett restaurant with the seller, Camilleri.
She admitted to picking up a five-figure payment from Fenech, which she claimed she passed on to her aide.
She admitted accepting €9,000 from Fenech as “a birthday gift”.
Her aide, Farrugia, initially denied receiving €31,000 in cash. But swiftly changed his version when Cutajar testified that she had picked up the cash from Fenech and passed it on to him.
Cutajar did not dispute any of this – she simply couldn’t. There was too much evidence proving those events, which alone were sufficient to merit expulsion from any decent party.
Rosianne Cutajar shamed her party. Her greed dragged the prime minister into an embarrassing corner- Kevin Cassar
This was an MP accepting thousands of euros from the owner of 17 Black while he was under investigation for money laundering.
Why was a Labour MP handling thousands of euros in cash at all? Why was she accepting thousands of euros from Fenech?
Why was she standing up at the Council of Europe to hide the truth about Daphne Caruana Caruana Galizia’s murder – a murder Fenech is accused of complicity in?
Anybody with an ounce of decency would acknowledge the poor judgement, apologise to the party, the prime minister and the country and quietly fade away.
Not Cutajar. She came out with guns blazing. And do you blame her?
By consorting with Fenech she did no worse than Joseph Muscat, who had invited him to his birthday party and messaged him regularly.
She did no worse than Zammit Lewis, who dined with Fenech and even enjoyed his lavish hospitality in the French Alps.
By accepting thousands of euros from Fenech, she did no worse than Muscat, who accepted expensive wines and a Bulgari watch from Fenech.
Being found guilty of a breach of ethics was nothing worse than Muscat, Carmelo Abela or Silvio Schembri, who all faced the same condemnation.
Cutajar’s arrogance is not arrogance at all. It is simply the logical expectation of how Labour reacts based on identical prior circumstances.
Cutajar expected Zammit Lewis and Bedingfield to vote the commissioner’s report down and the speaker to abstain. That’s what happened with Carmelo Abela.
She expected Robert Abela to label the report a conspiracy by “those who think they alone have a divine right to rule”, as he did with Carmelo Abela. She expected Robert Abela to keep her in his cabinet as he did with Silvio Schembri and Carmelo Abela.
Cutajar was quite right to expect her party to take her side. Consorting with suspected criminals, accepting lavish gifts from suspected murderers and concealing guilt is trademark Labour. And when you’re found guilty, simply attack and discredit the institution that condemned you.
Better still, blame someone else, preferably the ones with a divine right to rule. And while you’re at it, remember to emphasise that the institutions are working and that you respect the rule of law.
What you must not do is apologise, express remorse for any of your despicable actions or, heaven forbid, dream of offering your resignation.
When you’ve brought your party and the country into disrepute, recontest the next election − you’re bound to win an even greater number of votes, like Mizzi.
Then, on your Facebook page, you can post ‘40,000’ and some lemons. That’s Labour’s rulebook.
In any civilised country, Cutajar would not only be kicked out of the party but would be prosecuted for perjury – together with her loyal aide, Farrugia.
Instead she remains a Labour MP and is guaranteed election on the first count come the next election.