Joseph Muscat, the former Prime Minister of Malta, has shared a recent interview on his own social media.
The interview sparked over 21K views, more than 2.4K reactions and hundreds of comments in just a few hours. People showed their support to the former Labour Party leader whilst others showed their disapproval.
Joseph Muscat encouraged those who wish to reopen an inquiry into the secret company Egrant to proceed, but he cautioned that if found innocent, he would pursue legal action against them for damages.
When asked about the possibility of facing legal action, Muscat asserted that he enjoyed the support of the people and believed that even if he had to fight the accusations alone, they would prove baseless. He lamented the loss of public confidence in the justice system and criticised what he perceived as a malicious campaign being waged against him.
During an interview on Smash TV with Manuel Cuschieri, Muscat defended himself by referencing the magisterial inquiry that had already disproven his ownership of the offshore company. He acknowledged the presence of forged documents in the evidence submitted and drew parallels to the forged signatures in the Egrant affair.
Under increasing pressure due to the public hospitals’ controversy and the consultant payments he received after stepping down as Prime Minister in 2020, Muscat addressed his critics. He claimed that certain individuals wanted the hospital project to fail in order to maintain the status quo and resist structural changes in the health sector.
During the interview, Muscat also reaffirmed the legitimacy of his post-political earnings and provided evidence that all his earnings were obtained in a lawful manner. According to his 2020 tax return, Muscat declared earnings of approximately €482,000 from various consultancy work during the year he resigned as Prime Minister. Muscat defended his post-political earnings, emphasising that he declared all his earnings and asserting that they were obtained from legitimate work, including projects unrelated to Malta.
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