Past allegations returned to haunt Louis Galea during yesterday's grilling before the European Parliament's Budgetary Control Committee in Brussels.
Dr Galea, who was nominated Speaker of the House when he failed to be re-elected in the last election, spent half of his 33-minute hearing reacting to allegations about mismanagement of funds during his 20-year ministerial responsibilities, pushed by Socialist rapporteur Ines Ayala Sender.
Although he put on a satisfactory performance and answered the highly technical questions on his views on the Court's remit, it could not have started off worse for Dr Galea.
Following a brief introduction in Maltese about his long political career and experience, Ms Ayala Sender - the MEP leading the committee's opinion - fired two parting shots considered to be aimed at denting Dr Galea's credibility.
She referred to a MaltaToday article, which was apparently circulated among all committee members before the hearing, and asked Dr Galea to clarify allegations regarding embezzlement of public funds within the context of the Auxiliary Workers Training Scheme.
The scheme had been introduced by the 1987 Nationalist Administration to absorb thousands of irregular government employees hired a few months before the election by the previous Labour Administration.
She also referred to the Foundation of Tomorrow Schools and asked how many of the contracts for school refurbishments were given to citizens from Dr Galea's political constituency.
Despite the uncomfortable questions, Dr Galea, in his typical calm voice, categorically denied the allegations, which, he said, were only intentioned to damage his reputation "without even one single shred of evidence".
Dr Galea submitted a memo to the committee chairman on the allegations made in MaltaToday, titled Louis Galea: The Rise And Fall Of A Maltese Christian Democrat.
Dr Galea assured MEPs that the two cases mentioned in MaltaToday had been thoroughly investigated by the National Audit Office and the Commission Against Corruption and he had been cleared on all counts.
"The allegations about the auxiliary workers' scheme made in this article go back 23 years. These were investigated twice and the conclusions do not make one single reference against me personally. The investigations clearly state I had done nothing wrong and that I was not involved in any illegality or corruption," Dr Galea said.
With regard to the Foundation of Tomorrow Schools and the allegations of awards of direct orders for the refurbishment of public schools, Dr Galea said that, even in this case, which happened 10 years ago, an investigation was conducted and he was personally completely exonerated.
"I would like to categorically state that I have never involved myself in any award of any contract," he said in an assuring tone.
"Where people were found to have have infringed regulations they had to pay the price. In fact, the CEO of the foundation was dismissed and other employees had to undergo disciplinary procedures," he said.
During the hearing Dr Galea made repeated statements on the importance of the Court of Auditors in assuring public funds were used well and said he would like to see more involvement from member states in ensuring the better administration of important European projects.
Answering a question about how he felt replacing Josef Bonnici, described by the quizzing Italian MEP as one of the most experienced and professional auditors at the Court, Dr Galea said he felt humbled to be replacing the former Economic Affairs Minister.
"The first thing I did when I learned about my nomination is consult with Prof. Bonnici. I have a lot to learn from his expertise and I am sure he will help me in my new role, if you approve me," he told MEPs.
Sources close to the committee said that although Dr Galea should manage to get the green light, the Socialist rapporteur's specific mention of allegations during the hearing might impinge on his good chances of approval.
"The fact there was a deliberate attempt to damage Dr Galea's reputation by circulating a damaging newspaper article about his political past does not reflect well. The fact that the rapporteur felt the need to raise these allegations publicly in the hearing can also be interpreted as a bad sign," the sources said.
However, according to the same sources, Dr Galea handled his hearing very well and "MEPs should have no difficulty in approving his nomination".
Though none of the five Maltese MEPs are committee members, attending the hearing were Nationalist MEP Simon Busuttil and Labour MEP Edward Scicluna.
If Dr Galea is given the green light today, his nomination will be put to the approval of the European Parliament plenary later this month.
After hearing the first five nominees yesterday, the committee will this morning resume with the hearing of four other designated members of the European Court of Auditors. This will be followed by an internal discussion on the hearings and a vote will then be taken on each individual.