Muscat accepts Joe Cordina resignation, says finance minister has to explain 'gift'

Labour leader Joseph Muscat said this evening that Finance Minister Tonio Fenech had to explain why he accepted a gift worth over €5000 from George Farrugia soon after he being minister responsible for Enemalta, why he had not declared it, and what he gave in return. Dr Muscat made his comments after Labour MP Evarist Bartolo made the claim about the gift at a press conference. Mr Fenech promptly denied receiving such a gift and said he would sue Mr Bartolo. Dr Muscat said the gift brought down the government's 'house of cards' on the oil procurement scandal. He said the prime minister had known that this case would show up and the PN had therefore tried a diversionary tactic by trying to pin Labour's financial administrator, Joe Cordina, to a company involved in the oil scandal. Mr Cordina had denied involvement and the police never investigated him. But Mr Cordina immediately offered to resign his post and withdraw his general election candidature. Dr Muscat said he had accepted the resignation. But, Dr Muscat said, if responsibility was being placed on Mr Cordina because he was a director of a fiduciary company, then the same applied for the prime minister's son, who had been...