Malta Deputy Prime Minister Fearne resigns after being named in corruption scandal
Malta's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for European Funds, Equality, Reforms and Social Dialogue, Chris Fearne, has resigned from his cabinet positions following accusations leveled against him in a corruption investigation concerning the controversial privatization process of several state hospitals.
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The Labour Party cabinet led by Robert Abela has suffered its first loss due to a corruption scandal surrounding the 2015 privatization process of three hospitals, which has been on the public agenda in Malta for some time.
Deputy Prime Minister Fearne submitted his resignation letter to Prime Minister Robert Abela yesterday after being accused of involvement in corruption during the process related to the privatization of three state hospitals, a period during which he served as Parliamentary Secretary for Health under the same Labour Party government in 2015.
Sharing the letter on his social media accounts, Fearne argued that he was "falsely accused" and "innocent," stating that he resigned in the interest of the nation.
Fearne also requested that Prime Minister Abela abandon plans to nominate him as the next Maltese member of the European Commission.
Fearne further noted that he did not know the basis for the accusations directed at him.
Prime Minister Abela, who responded to Deputy Prime Minister Fearne's resignation letter with a letter of his own, requested that Fearne reconsider his decision.
Fearne thanked Abela for his support but informed him that he would remain committed to his decision to resign.
"RESIGNATION WAS INEVITABLE"
Reports in the Maltese press indicated that Fearne was accused by the Attorney General, along with other high-level figures from the government, of misappropriating funds and defrauding the government during the controversial privatization process of the hospitals in question earlier this week.
In the same investigation, it was stated that former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, under whom Fearne served in the cabinet, his chief of staff Keith Schembri, and the then-Minister of Health Konrad Mizzi are also facing serious charges such as money laundering, bribery, and forming a criminal organization.
Opposition Nationalist Party (PN) leader Bernard Grech argued in a post on Facebook that Fearne's resignation was "inevitable" and showed how unaware Prime Minister Abela was of the situation, given that he had insisted no one needed to resign.
Grech suggested that other individuals named in the accusations should follow a similar path, stating, "No public official facing such accusations can remain in office."