PN afraid to approve Schiavone and Bezzina before election

The PN’s Executive Committee is afraid to approve the candidature of Hermann Schiavone and Toni Bezzina to be on the PN ticket on the 5th District in the coming election becuase of irregularities they are involved in.

On Thursday 12 July 2012 the Executive Committee voted unanimously and with a show of hands to stop MP Franco Debono from contesting the coming election. Debono’s zeal to reform certain aspects of local institutions and politics has put him on collision course with the PN.

The PN is making sure that his seat will be filled by someone who will follow the party line without any questions.

Last Thursday the PN administration decided to postpone the approval of Hermann Schiavone and Toni Bezzina’s candidature. They are trying to blame Debono for not approving them already when in fact the real reason is the irregularities they are involved in. Since then Debono has said he is not ready to support government if it presents its Budget for 2013 in parliament before the election.

Schiavone has been working hard to oust Debono from parliament. Debono has been for many years now trying to get the PN to take steps against Schiavone who alleged with the Prime Minister's PA Edgar Galea Curmi that he suspected that Franco Debono and someone close to another PN politician circulated an anonymous letter accusing Schiavone of irregularities involving the abuse of public property and the improper use of government employees for private purposes. Schiavone was also accused of grabbing public land and turning it abusively into a kiosk. 

Debono had spoken to Edgar Galea Curmi, the personal assistant of the Prime Minister to refute the allegation that he was behind the anonymous letter. Debono also told the police to investigate the allegation.

Architect Toni Bezzina, the President of the PN club in Zurrieq was also embroiled in a scandal as he ordered government employees that fall under his responsibility at the Ministry of Resources to carry out work at the PN club in Zurrieq. To cover his tracks he took the employees to sign an affidavit saying that they carried out the work voluntarily and not while they were supposed to be carrying out work for the government. Bezzina took these employees to sign the affidavit during the day when they were supposed to be carrying out their duties as public employees.