The Nationalist Party has insisted that “the people do not want an apology, they want Ministers who do not defraud the public for personal gain. If Clayton Bartolo and Clint Camilleri do not resign on their own, Robert Abela should dismiss them.”

During a press conference addressed by Shadow Ministers Rebekah Borg and Darren Carabott, the Nationalist Party stated that the Commissioner for Standards’ report “clearly indicated that the two Ministers abused their power by hiring Amanda Muscat in both Ministries and giving her a phantom job, for which she was paid almost €70,000 as a consultant despite lacking the necessary qualifications for the role.”

The PN spokesperson said that “the people want a government that does not abuse its power, not an apology. The apology from Clayton Bartolo and the acknowledgement from Clint Camilleri are not enough to forgive the fraud they committed with public funds.”

“It is evident that Clayton Bartolo feared a similar fate to that of Justyne Caruana, who had to resign after hiring her partner, Daniel Bogdanovic, as a consultant in her Ministry,” the PN said. “Consequently, Bartolo transferred Muscat to the Ministry for Gozo, but the transfer happened only on paper.”

The PN stated that”they clearly knew they were abusing their power, and this was not a mere mistake but a blatant fraud involving public funds. After the Government presented a supposedly quality Budget a few days ago, yesterday the true quality of this Government was exposed.”

“In response to the Commissioner’s condemning report, the two Ministers, who are supposed to represent the people, could only say they had “taken note” (nie?u nota) and “acknowledged” (ittie?det konjizzoni) the report. With each passing day, the Labour Government reveals that its focus is solely on personal gain,” the PN said.

The Opposition spokespersons pointed out that “it is so ironic that Minister Clayton Bartolo was appointed by Robert Abela to Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to investigate government spending of public funds, yet Bartolo did not hesitate to defraud the public to secure €68,000 annually from taxpayers for his wife in a fictitious role.”

However, the PN noted that “the greatest sense of betrayal today is felt among true Labour Party supporters, who are now offended and disgusted by these events. Many are calling for the resignation of both Ministers.”

“It is the Police’s duty to investigate the fraud committed by Clayton Bartolo and Clint Camilleri,” the PN said.

It went on to say that “Robert Abela should acknowledge the anger of the people, who are now fed up with seeing those close to the Government pigging out.”

The PN concluded by saying that “if they do not resign on their own, Robert Abela should promptly dismiss Clayton Bartolo and Clint Camilleri from Cabinet.”

Photo: PN

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