After 11 short months in limbo, Justyne Caruana is back. Car­uana was kicked out over revelations about her husband’s friendship with Yorgen Fenech. Nothing has changed since. More damning revelations about Silvio Valletta’s scandals have raised further questions about what Justyne knew and when.

But Robert Abela needed to do something about Gozo. As the 13th district turns blue, the prime minister has ditched correctness. He must win Gozo – at all costs.

And what better way to turn the district red than to have three Gozitan ministers, showering gifts on the lucky 13th?

Caruana’s history does not augur well. She gained notoriety by calling all PN supporters snakes and consolidated it with her helicopter saga. An AFM helicopter was dispatched to pick her up, not from Xewkija helipad, but from Gozo Hospital, because it was “more convenient for her”.

It transported her to Luqa airport. When the abuse was revealed, instead of apologising, she came out fighting. “Do you know what helicopter they sent me? Just a plastic bubble – why all this fuss?” It was just an “Alwett”.

The army helicopter can only be used by a sitting prime minister or president – not by backbenchers. But she was Justyne.

A series of falsehoods followed. Press release PR140120 claimed she needed to get to the Parliamentary Assembly for the Mediterranean on parliamentary work and was representing her country. The press release besmirched former prime minister Lawrence Gonzi by falsely claiming he used the helicopter to attend parties, dinners, concerts and even a PN meeting. Then minister Manuel Mallia was compelled to correct the falsehoods in parliament.

Caruana declared that she “cannot divulge details of the reason for my visit and reports I presented, I do not want to compromise the national interest”. She claimed she presented two reports. She didn’t. She was a rapporteur on one report about the Middle East presented by Pedro Roque a day before her arrival. She refused to ans­wer phone calls and e-mails from journalists. When asked for a breakdown of the costs of Caruana’s helicopter flight, the OPM declined to reply.

As parliamentary secretary for active ageing, the UĦM condemned her for threatening day centre managers. Instead of meeting union officials, she gathered the workers involved and proceeded to intimidate them with threats of “taking them to the police commissioner” and that they would pay bitterly if they leaked details of the meeting. She allegedly screeched as only she knows how: “I’ll show you who Justyne Caruana is.”

That didn’t prevent her promotion to Minister for Gozo. While there, she ‘made hay while the sun shone’.

The Ministry for Gozo awarded €4.3 million in direct orders in less than two years; €550,000 alone were spent on mooring men from Signal 8 Security Services.

By taking another gamble on Caruana, Abela risks damaging himself and the future of the country

When her ministerial career was cut short, she was remunerated handsomely. Within a week of her resignation, she was appointed chairperson of the consideration of bills committee. She received a €48,000 direct order for legal services to the Lands Authori­ty and another €10,000 direct order from the Water Services Corporation.

She became chairperson of the Gozo affairs committee. At the same time,  she continued to work as a lawyer and an MP. She even tendered for a €3,600 contract with the Qala local council.

If these worrying traits were not enough to deter Abela, her silence about her husband’s improprieties should have put him off re-engaging Caruana.

Valletta was made assistant police commissioner after Labour’s 2013 victory. Soon after, he was sitting on the FIAU board. By March 2017, he became deputy commissioner.

He had been a close friend of Fenech since 2016, when the two were introduced by Keith Schembri’s doctor,  Adrian Vella, at Fenech’s notorious Żebbuġ ranch.

By May 2018, Fenech was a suspect in the Caruana Galizia murder. Yet,  Valletta travelled to Kiev with Fenech for the Champions League final that month.

In the meantime, the Caruana Gali­zias won a legal battle to remove him from the investigation into the murder of the journalist. The attorney general appealed. In September, Valletta travelled to watch a Chelsea match with the suspect in the murder investigation he was leading while the appeal on his involvement in the case was still being heard. In October 2018, the constitutional court upheld the judgment against Valletta.

By November 2018, Fenech was exposed as the owner of 17 Black. However, Valletta continued to conceal his friendship.

As Valletta fooled around in Fenech’s Rolls Royce, he remained on the FIAU board until August 2019.

In January 2020, Valletta’s close relationship with Fenech was exposed. Melvin Theuma also revealed that deputy commissioner Valletta had been passing inside information to his friend, the alleged mastermind.

When Valletta holidayed with Fenech, he claimed he did not know Fenech was a suspect, although he had been since May 2018.

Later, he changed his excuse. He had to go on holiday with Fenech because he would otherwise “show my hand”.

The allegations about Valletta are damning – the deputy commissioner and FIAU board member, husband of a cabinet minister going on holiday with a criminal suspect and allegedly passing on sensitive information to him while investigating a murder in which his friend was implicated.

The concerns leading to Caruana’s resignation have not disappeared.

Is it possible that she did not know who her husband travelled with or about her husband’s relationship with Fenech?

The implications of her husband’s actions would have been explicitly obvious to her, a lawyer – why did Valletta and Caruana conceal the relationship? Why did Caruana not recuse herself from the cabinet pardon decision?

By taking another gamble on Carua­na, Abela risks damaging himself and the future of the country.

Education is by far the most important portfolio. Not for the prime minister unfortunately, who appointed as minister a coarse, entitled bully lacking entirely in competence or experience in the field and with serious doubts over her integrity.

Nothing counts more than winning Gozo. Education can wait.

NOTE: This article was written before Prime Minister Robert Abela spoke about Justyne Caruana’s separation yesterday.

Kevin Cassar, Professor of surgery and former PN candidate

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