Dalli defends canvassers’ role of middlemen

Former European Commissioner John Dalli has defended the practice of allowing canvassers to act as middle-men with international lobbyists, insisting that no money is transacted in these liaisons. In an interview published in The Times today he also discloses that many more Maltese canvassers took on this role after they were approached by foreign organisations to facilitate access to the former Commissioner. "I have many other people in Malta, who have international organisations asking them to fix appointments with me. This is not just Silvio Zammit doing it, because it seems that people think that you have to go through someone to go to the Commissioner." About his relationship with Mr Zammit, Mr Dalli said: "Silvio Zammit is a canvasser like many hundreds of canvassers that I have. That is my relationship with him. (With him)... I have the contact I have with other canvassers. When they need something and when they have some friend who needs something... It's the usual political game in Malta. "The question is at the heart of the scandal that Mr Dalli has found himself sucked into after an investigation by the EU anti-fraud agency, Olaf, concluded that Maltese businessman...