Prime Minister, Dr Joseph Muscat, said in Parliament today that if he finds out that someone in government has the illicit millions that the Opposition Leader is alleging, he will remove that person immediately. This was said in reaction to the Panama Papers leak by the ICIJ which revealed yesterday that a number of companies opened in Panama are used for illicit activities. Minister for Energy and Health, Dr Konrad Mizzi was found to have opened a company in Panama which he claimed was for consultancy and brokerage purposes.
The Prime Minister added that his displeasure is that "the scandal is taking away attention from all the positive things which this government has done." He added that the government's priority is to keep the financial services sector strong and even make it stronger.
Dr Muscat spoke about the implications that whoever opens trusts and companies does it for tax evasion reasonsl. There will be a lot more pressure much like the time of Swissleaks, Luxleaks and Offshoreleaks.
There are 676 Malta companies registered in Panama. The government and the ICIJ have been asked to give all information about all Maltese people involved in Panama. All cases will be investigated as necessary. These are exactly the same steps which were taken after Swissleaks.
Dr Mizzi was one of the people mentioned and everything he has declared is true. A full independent audit by the commissioner of internal taxes will go on as planned to ensure transparency. The same audit will be going on to investigate the Office of the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff, Keith Schembri.
Opposition leader, Simon Busuttil, reacted saying that "it is surreal that the Prime Minister comes here and speaks about transparency. We don't believe you! How are you not embarrassed to lie to all of us like this? You have known for seven weeks that they have secret companies, than you come here and speak about transparency?"
He went on to add that people are "angry" about all the corruption also going and the Minister for Finance, according to Dr Busuttil, has not defended the financial sector. Addressing the Prime Minister, Dr Busuttil said, "You have broken the negotiating position of this country."
Dr Busuttil then accused the Prime Minister of lying to the public repeatedly, specifically after saying that action would be taken if anyone had been mentioned after Swissleaks when Dr Mizzi and Mr Schembri have not even been suspended, let alone removed.
Dr Busuttil added that both Dr Muscat and Dr Mizzi have been "lying to the media for the last seven weeks."
What followed was a list of alleged lies including Dr Mizzi lying to the Internal Tax Commissioner because he didn't declare his trust in New Zealand and company in Panama before. The opposition leader then accused the Prime Minister of lying when he said that Dr Mizzi had paid a fine and then "changed the story" saying that he wasn't sure if Dr Mizzi had been sent the fine or not at the time.
Dr Busuttil implied that Dr Mizzi lied to media saying he had a trust and completely omitting anything about any company in Panama; ending with another accusation saying the despite Dr Mizzi saying he would declare everything, he did so too late.
"The question we have is, why have you not even remotely tried to remove Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri? ... The Opposition is appealing that you do what is good for the country. Remove Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri for the sake of Malta. I appeal to the honorable among the government not to keep associating yourself with corruption."
from The Malta Independent http://ift.tt/1TwuHtI
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