It looks bad but it’s not – Finance Minister on corruption

Reports of widespread corruption did not depict a true picture of the situation in Malta, Finance Minister Edward Scicluna said in an interview on US news programme 60 Minutes. CBS said it was the government that suggested Prof. Scicluna should be interviewed, saying they were repeatedly told that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat “did not have time” to speak to them. When the interviewer mentioned comments on integrity and corruption in Malta made by European bodies, the minister replied they were merely “allegations”. “I’m not trying to downplay allegations. Allegations are serious. But they are still allegations. You know, it’s up to the courts and their procedures and their experts to decide,” Prof. Scicluna said. He insisted that anyone wanting to know more about Malta would realise that the way such concerns were being depicted was not accurate. “It looks bad, but it’s not,” the minister said. During the same episode of the long-running programme, Labour MP Glenn Bedingfield was asked about kickback allegations involving the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, Keith Schembri, and European institutions raising questions on corruption. He said he did not have “any concerns”. “I...