The Nationalist Party has put government MPs on notice with a judicial protest claiming a budget vote in favour of giving Steward Healthcare €23 million more will make them “complicit in a crime”.

Addressing a press conference side-by-side, PN leader Bernard Grech and his predecessor Adrian Delia said the hospitals' concession deal is “illegal”.

Grech said the Opposition had again taken to the courts to file the judicial protest (see pdf link below) against Prime Minister Robert Abela.

The PN leader said it is clear the government is not getting value for money from the millions pumped into the concession.

Steward Healthcare formally took over the running of the St Luke’s, Karin Grech and Gozo hospitals in February 2018, after the original concessionaries Vitals Global Healthcare crashed out of the contract after two years.

Grech said it is evident the prime minister does not have the courage or political will to ensure sound financial management by terminating the contract.

He said the “fraudulent” nature of the contract should automatically render it void.

Instead, the government wants MPs to vote in favour of a budget that will give Steward an additional €23 million for the “fraudulent” contract.

He questioned why Abela was still tying himself to the “original sin” of the agreement negotiated by former Health Minister Konrad Mizzi.

“What agreement does Abela have with Mizzi? Why can’t he terminate this contract without compensating Steward?” Grech questioned.

On his part, Delia called the situation unprecedented, as there was ample public information indicating the government is bound to a “fraudulent and corrupt” contract.

In 2018, Delia filed a court case to try to terminate the concession agreement. 

Delia said instead of terminating the contract, the government was choosing to contribute more funds to “something criminal”.

The PN MP said that after the government had ignored the PN’s calls for political responsibility, the party had now taken to the courts to ensure legal responsibility.

Delia said Steward itself had claimed the original contract might have been acquired fraudulently by VGH.

“With that declaration [by Steward], every MP who voted in favour of the budget will become complicit in a crime, by agreeing to pay more money for an illegal contract”.

He said the police and FIAU too had a responsibility to carry out investigations into the contract.