The messages between Johann Buttigieg and Yorgen Fenech published today are sickening.
They reveal an extraordinary familiarity between a businessman with major development interests and the man entrusted with running the Planning Authority. They show a public official discussing business opportunities with a person whose commercial interests depend on decisions taken by the authority Buttigieg runs.
We already knew these facts. But seeing the conversations laid out before us, in their own words, makes it impossible to sanitise or minimise the abuse.
Johann Buttigieg should never again have been allowed anywhere near a public office whose powers can be exploited for private advantage.
But Robert Abela brought him back. That is today’s political scandal.
Robert Abela reappointed Johann Buttigieg to run the Planning Authority when what had been revealed about his relationship with Yorgen Fenech was already known. He did not learn about this history this morning. He knew about it and chose to ignore it.
This is part of a disturbing pattern. People exposed by the contents of Yorgen Fenech’s phone as having had improper relationships with him were not treated as impresentabili. Under Robert Abela, they have been rehabilitated and returned to positions of power and influence.
Public office is not a prize to be handed back once the scandal has been forgotten.
The Planning Authority exists to apply the rules impartially and in the public interest. It cannot be run by someone who has demonstrated that he regards proximity to developers, personal business opportunities and the exercise of public power as compatible.
These relationships have consequences for everyone. When rules are bent so that the richest can become even richer, ordinary people pay the price: through rampant development, ruined communities, environmental destruction and the concrete jungle Malta is becoming.
Repubblika demands:
- The immediate removal of Johann Buttigieg from the Planning Authority.
- A full explanation from Robert Abela for his decision to rehabilitate and reappoint Buttigieg despite everything that was already publicly known.
- The creation in law of an effective criminal offence of abuse of public office, so that anyone who exploits public power for private advantage faces real consequences.
Robert Abela cannot wash his hands of this. He made the appointment. He knew what had been revealed. And he chose Johann Buttigieg anyway.
Abuse of public office is intolerable. Knowingly returning someone who has abused public office to the same corridors of power is a political scandal.
For this reason too, we reiterate our call for people to attend the Protest of Solidarity on Wednesday, 16 September at 19:00 in Valletta.
09.09.2026