“Government Celebrated Its Failure”; Delia On Hospitals Ruling

Shadow Finance Minister Adrian Delia criticised the Government for “celebrating its own failure” following the outcome of the international arbitration case against Steward Healthcare.

Delia was speaking during a press conference held after the Opposition Leader’s response to the Government’s Budget 2026 speech.

He said that the Government itself admitted it had not initiated the arbitration but that Steward had, and that the tribunal confirmed it was right for the contracts to be annulled.

Delia reminded that despite the Government’s repeated promises to recover every cent of the hundreds of millions paid to Vitals and Steward, “not a single cent has been recovered”.

Delia, who in 2018 filed the case that led to the annulment of the hospitals concession, said that while the International Chamber of Commerce confirmed Malta acted lawfully in terminating the agreement, the outcome exposes the Government’s ongoing failure to deliver justice for taxpayers.

He criticised the Government for boasting about the arbitration result while admitting it continues to spend more than it earns, adding another billion euro in debt.

“This is a Government that is celebrating a judgment confirming that it was right to end a corrupt deal, but which still refuses to take responsibility for allowing it to happen,” Delia said.

This came as Delia backed Opposition Leader Alex Borg’s Budget 2026 response speech and proposals. He insisted that the government’s Budget 2026 and the arbitration outcome both reveal a Government out of touch with the people’s real priorities.

#MaltaDaily