Bernard Grech demands hospitals inquiry be published so voters have full picture

Bernard Grech has requested a copy of the hospitals inquiry from the Attorney General as he kept up the pressure on Monday for the findings to be published.

The Opposition leader said it was unacceptable that only Prime Minister Robert Abela and a few others have access to the inquiry findings.

In a press conference at party headquarters, Grech said he formally wrote to the AG in his capacity as Opposition leader to request a copy of the inquiry. He also requested that it be published.

Grech said the Prime Minister was being dishonest when he asked people to use their vote to pass judgement on the inquiry without voters having the full picture.

“Robert Abela wants you to make judgement on the inquiry without you knowing what it contains… he knows what it contains and is using the information to spin stories of fear about a mysterious establishment… the establishment is the mafia clique at Castille,” Grech said.

He added the Nationalist Party wants the inquiry to be published so that voters can make informed choices. “We are doing this for you, the voters, because it is your right to have all the information,” he said.

The hospitals inquiry was concluded a fortnight ago with the magistrate passing on her findings along with 78 boxes of evidence to the Attorney General. Whether the inquiry gets published or not is up to the AG's discretion but Grech has claimed the Prime Minister was given a copy. Abela has not denied the claim.

Grech reiterated that if the AG does not publish the inquiry findings, the PN will take the necessary legal action to force the chief prosecutor’s hand.

The PN leader said Abela wants to “stop the truth from emerging” because it is worrying him.

“He wants to manipulate the truth. He fears the truth because he knows what went on… it is the truth that will free this people from the mafia and criminality that has gripped Castille,” Grech said.

He brushed off a question by a One News reporter on allegations that there were leaks from the inquiry with the PN leader saying the Labour Party’s insistence on leaks was confirmation in itself that the Prime Minister had access to the inquiry findings.

Former prime minister Joseph Muscat has tried to undermine the credibility of the inquiry by alleging that information from the inquiry was leaked, a cue taken up by Abela.