Konrad Mizzi defended his track record, emphasised his contribution to the Labour Party and argued he was being scapegoated.

But by 9.30pm on Tuesday evening and despite his objections, the once-star Labour candidate, first fielded in the 2013 general election, had been overwhelmingly ousted from party’s parliamentary group.

Of the 73 members taking part in the meeting, just one had voted for Mizzi not to be removed from the parliamentary group.

He is now an independent MP, having been formally exiled from Labour’s parliamentary family.

The room at Labour Party HQ was packed for the meeting, which party leader and prime minister Robert Abela called with an hour’s notice.

Mizzi himself was not among the physical attendees, joining by conference call due to his period of mandatory COVID-19 quarantine following a return from overseas.

The man who defended him for years, Joseph Muscat, was not present at all. 

How Mizzi defended himself

MPs present for the meeting told Times of Malta that Mizzi, who was first implicated in the Panama Papers scandal back in 2016, started off by defending his track record.

He had done so much for the party, and so deserved their support, sources recalled Mizzi saying. 

Mizzi insisted he had done nothing wrong in an Enemalta deal in Montengro which proved to be his undoing.

Earlier this month, a joint investigation by Times of Malta and Reuters, exposed how that wind farm project, piloted by Mizzi when he was Energy Minister, was linked to offshore company 17 Black.

The shell company is owned by Yorgen Fenech, the man charged with conspiracy in the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Mizzi has publicly distanced himself from the Montenegro deal and stuck to that line in Tuesday’s meeting.

Sources said Mizzi argued he was innocent until proven guilty, and expected support from his fellow MPs. He told the meeting that he had already paid a political price when he was stripped of the energy ministry portfolio back in 2016. 

Konrad Mizzi in 2013, weeks after being made Energy Minister. Photo: Jason BorgKonrad Mizzi in 2013, weeks after being made Energy Minister. Photo: Jason Borg

At the time, he was made minister without portfolio and given an office in the Auberge de Castille where he was to work on ‘special projects’.

Mizzi also reminded the Labour grouping how he had been stripped of his deputy leadership of the party.

Mizzi was ‘a problem that keeps coming back’

But attendees were in no mood to listen to Mizzi’s pleas.

One source said the fourth district MP had become deeply unpopular within the group, with one describing him as “a problem that keeps coming back”. 

“It is like he put it on us, like it was our fault,” the source said.

 “He felt like it should have never got to this as we should have been sticking up for him.  It was like he felt we had betrayed him or something,” one source said.

Another MP said they expected Mizzi to suspend himself the minute it was made clear to him that he was no longer welcome within the parliamentary group.

Instead, Mizzi publicly turned down Abela’s request to step aside and forced the party to vote him out.

Robert Abela embraces Konrad Mizzi during his maiden speech as Labour leader in January. Six months later, Mizzi finds himself ousted from the party.Robert Abela embraces Konrad Mizzi during his maiden speech as Labour leader in January. Six months later, Mizzi finds himself ousted from the party.

Another recalled how Mizzi had also told the group that since others still in the parliamentary group were also the subject of investigations, it was unfair for him to “scapegoated”.

This, the source said, was a reference to a magisterial inquiry into the privatisation of three state hospitals.

Rumblings of discontent

Despite expelling Mizzi, the Labour Party continue to enjoy an unassailable majority in parliament. But Tuesday’s move inevitably sparked rumblings of discontent within the party.

One party veteran told Times of Malta that they had sensed a wave of criticism from party supporters following Mizzi’s dismissal.

The source said there were Labour voters who were even threatening not to vote because the party had “danced to the tune” of protestors who they perceive as being “anti-Labour”.

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