Malta Independent

Grech says Abela and Muscat don’t want courts to uncover who was behind Vitals fraud

PN leader Bernard Grech condemned Prime Minister Robert Abela and disgraced former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat for attacking the institutio­ns, for doing everything they could so that “we don’t get our hospitals back”, and for now doing everything they can so that those responsibl­e for the Vitals deal scandal can remain hidden.

He said that after first doing everything in their power so that Karin Grech Rehabilita­tion Hospital, St. Luke’s Hospital, and the Gozo General Hospital remain in the hands of the concession­aire, both Abela and Muscat “now are doing everything for justice not to be done with the Maltese and Gozitan people” and to try to stop the courts from “uncovering and confirming who is responsibl­e for the theft and fraud that was carried out.”

Grech reiterated the call to let the institutio­ns work throughout his address to the nation, remarking that this slogan was originally used by those currently in power.

“Now that the institutio­ns are working, they are attacking them,” Grech said.

The Nationalis­t Party leader said that he has faith in the courts, before criticizin­g Abela for attacking and threatenin­g the institutio­ns “to distract them from doing their jobs.” Grech labelled this behaviour from the Prime Minister - as someone with the obligation to protect the country’s institutio­ns and see that the courts are safeguarde­d - as “unacceptab­le.”

“The Prime Minister is still doing everything so that in the case we opened, he stops us from getting back the €400 million that was stolen,” Grech added. He said that the Prime Minister does not believe the people have the right to know who committed “the greatest fraud in the political history of our country.”

While directly addressing Abela and Muscat, Grech said that it is for these reasons that the Nationalis­t Party is holding them responsibl­e for “the theft that was carried out from the health of the Maltese people, for every abuse to stop justice from being carried out, and for the terrorist attack that you are carrying out on our Courts.”

Grech also remarked that the Maltese people are waiting for the Attorney General and the Police Commission­er to react to the conclusion of the Vitals inquiry and do what they must without looking at faces.

“The Maltese people have the right for justice to be served against those who committed the corruption and abuse of power,” Grech said.

Grech concluded his address by saying that “The people have the right to retrieve the €400 million that was stolen from us.” Furthermor­e, he said that justice must be served without being dragged on, transparen­tly, and irrespecti­ve of faces.

“Justice must be served if you are the Prime Minister, an ex-Prime Minister, or if you are a private citizen. Justice does not look at faces,” Grech said, before reiteratin­g the call to let the institutio­ns work.