Joseph Cuschieri and Rosianne Cutajar are unfit for public life – Repubblika
NGO Repubblika said Thursday that both now-Project Green CEO Joseph Cuschieri and independent MP Rosianne Cutajar are unfit for public life, and that Prime Minister Robert Abela continues to defend the corrupt.
In a statement, Repubblika said that the appointment of Cuschieri to a government position after having had to resign from another role following his involvement with Yorgen Fenech, the man accused of the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, is “nothing short of an official rehabilitation of the corrupt and mafia-linked association between criminals and the government.”
“It is not surprising, therefore, that in the same breath, Abela announced that Rosianne Cutajar will return to the Labour Party and the government. Cutajar had to step down from politics after her association with Yorgen Fenech,” Repubblika said.
The NGO went on that the Prime Minister had stated that these two individuals “paid a high price for the wrongs they committed and cannot be punished forever.”
“This statement implies that, for Abela, a position and a salary in the government are a form of right for Joseph Cuschieri, Rosianne Cutajar, and anyone affiliated with or close to the party,” Repubblika said.
It said that public office is not a right for just anyone, but it is a privilege reserved for individuals of integrity, who are prepared to place the interests of others before their own.
“Joseph Cuschieri and Rosianne Cutajar are unfit for public life. They have not faced any consequences for using public office for personal gain and corrupt practices. The exclusion of blatantly corrupt individuals from public life is not a punishment for them; rather, it is the protection of citizens to ensure that the public trust is not betrayed,” the NGO said.
It said that it is evident that Abela, “acting under Joseph Muscat’s command,” is working to normalize the mafia ties government has with Yorgen Fenech.
“The message they (Abela and Muscat) want to convey is that there is nothing wrong with being bought by Yorgen Fenech. Perhaps what is not that clear is: what is Joseph Muscat blackmailing Robert Abela with?
Repubblika said that it strongly rejects this corrupt philosophy and declared that it will resist the mafia web which ruled the country.
Referring to the same issues, independent candidate Arnold Cassola said that Robert Abela is proving to be the worst Prime Minister in Maltese history.
Cassola noted how Abela not only approved of the false certificates and social benefits racket, but he actually encouraged such "customer care" rackets.
Then, he noted, Abela gave the Planning Authority portfolio to Clint Camilleri, despite the fact that a close relative of the Minister, Perit Alex Bigeni, has been involved in various dubious ODZ applications and deceitful planning drawings, such as the one concerning the 300-year-old Xagħra "niċċa."
Now, Cassola continued, he appointed Joseph Cuschieri as the "Project Green" CEO, despite the fact that the latter had benefitted from a trip to Las Vegas paid for by Yorgen Fenech, a person whose companies Cuschieri was supposed to regulate.
Moreover, Abela has now opened the door for the return of Rosianne Cutajar, despite the fact that she had accepted expensive gifts from Yorgen Fenech and had travelled to Strasbourg to defend him at the Council of Europe sitting without declaring her conflict of interest.
She has also boasted to the said Yorgen Fenech that she was going to pig out since other politicians were doing it.
“It is a pity that Robert Abela, the son of a respected President of the Republic, is turning out to be on the frontline as a promoter of unethical cesspit politics,” Cassola said.