Adrian Delia believes his efforts to fight corruption in Malta are “bothering a lot of people” and bearing fruit, with a number of them forced out in recent weeks.
In an interview aired on the party’s media platforms, Delia said that people had been forced to step down as a result of pressure by him and the party.
“I am bothering a lot of people because in recent months, all those who are involved, have one by one been removed from power. I will continue to do my job and political threats will not scare me,” Delia assured.
Among those sidelined in recent weeks are Labour deputy leader Chris Cardona, former minister Konrad Mizzi and former police commissioner Lawrence Cutajar.
Asked about the prime minister's performance since taking over in January, Delia said Robert Abela has so far failed to show decisiveness.
“Robert Abela is not taking any decisions. He would have fired the police commissioner on the spot in January if he wanted to act. But he did not and then he actually made him consultant,” Delia said, referring to Cutajar.
Cutajar lost his ministerial consultancy earlier this month after a magistrate ordered an investigation into claims that he tipped off the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder middleman.
Delia said that Abela had only sacked Cutajar once concerns about him had been made public.
Moneyval greylisting
Moving on to concerns that Malta could soon be greylisted by financial crime assessors Moneyval for not stepping up its efforts to fight money laundering, Delia said this would make it very difficult to promote business on the island.
“We are going to be walking around the world with a black t-shirt saying we have failed, instead of proudly wearing the Maltese flag to get people to invest in the island,” Delia warned.
Poll numbers
He dismissed polls which indicated that he had failed to make inroads with the electorate and that the Labour Party was still well ahead of the PN.
In the coming months, Delia said, Labour would continue to lose support. It was crucial for the PN to step up efforts to get these people back to the party.
The PN must come together, he said, adding he believed he has what it takes to earn people’s trust.
PN and Yorgen Fenech
Meanwhile, Delia again denied ever being approached by Yorgen Fenech, or anyone else, with a financial offer to undermine the campaign of any PN election candidate.
Self-confessed murder middleman Melvin Theuma has claimed Fenech was irked by David Casa's interest in his secret offshore company 17 Black, and had offered the PN money to ensure he was not re-elected.
Asked about meeting Fenech, who is accused of masterminding the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, Delia said he only met Fenech once, before it had been revealed that he owned 17 Black.
The meeting, he said, was like all other similar once he regularly had with other Maltese businessmen.
“He is not someone I knew. This is not a case of knowing him and then no longer being in touch with him,” Delia said.