Labour leader Joseph Muscat yesterday demanded explanations from the Prime Minister about what he described as a "web of espionage" in the way the government passed on information about complainers to the Nationalist Party.
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi owes the country an explanation about the "scandalous and shameful" channelling of confidential data from government to party, Dr Muscat said during a district committee meeting at the Labour Party club in Victoria.
"If Lawrence Gonzi knows details that have not yet been exposed about this case it is his duty as Prime Minister and as leader of the Nationalist Party to disclose them and declare what measures he is taking to sort out the situation," Dr Muscat said.
The attack follows a reference, during Dr Muscat's parliamentary speech on the budget last Monday, to the alleged transfer of personal information, from the government to the PN, about citizens who visited ministries, departments and secretariats.
Dr Gonzi replied to his questioning with "absolute silence", Dr Muscat said yesterday as an article in Malta Today reported that PN general secretary Paul Borg Olivier sent an e-mail requesting government ministries to send the party confidential information about people who approached ministries with complaints.
Dr Muscat said the article "removed the mask" and uncovered the truth about the matter.
In a statement, Dr Borg Olivier clarified that the "customer care exercise" he was coordinating abided by Data Protection law.
However, when asked by The Times yesterday whether he intended publishing the correspondence related to Dr Borg Olivier's e-mail to clarify the matter, Dr Gonzi avoided the question.
Dr Muscat had said earlier that he believed there was more to this story and insisted that it was Dr Gonzi's duty to divulge further details in the name of transparency.
He also insisted on further investigations into the recent massive breach of the system of the government's IT agency, Malta Information Technology and Training Services (MITTS).
Dr Muscat also spoke about the water and electricity tariffs and reiterated that the government was in effect increasing the surcharge to 194 per cent. He maintained that the Labour party's calculations were correct and challenged the government to publish its workings of the tariffs.
Picking on the analogy frequently used by Dr Gonzi, who compares the global financial crisis to a tempest, Dr Muscat said: "He tells people that the tempest is coming then he takes away their umbrella."
Dr Muscat made reference to a statement made by Social Policy Minister John Dalli in Parliament in which he called on employers not to use the global financial situation as an excuse to undermine workers' rights. He said the Labour party agreed with this comment and backed the government in any action taken to ensure workers' rights were upheld.
Dr Muscat also criticised the Nationalist Party media for the "attack" on economist Edward Scicluna "simply because he said that the figures and reasoning behind the budget did not make sense".