Nationalist Party deputy leader Simon Busuttil yesterday hit out at what he described as the Opposition leader’s “banal excuse” to axe Anġlu Farrugia.

Dr Busuttil said Dr Farrugia was made a scapegoat for Labour leader Joseph Muscat’s mistake to send Franco Debono for a deputy leaders’ debate on Xarabank instead of Dr Farrugia.

Even so, Dr Busuttil acknowledged that what the former Labour deputy leader said about the judiciary on Sunday was not banal but “condemnable and serious”.

“What is banal is Muscat using the comments as a pretext to get rid of Anġlu Farrugia,” Dr Busuttil said, adding that the Labour leader had ample time on Sunday to rebut his deputy’s statement “there and then”.

During a gathering for Labour supporters on Sunday, Dr Farrugia criticised a magistrate and alleged political bias in a judgment she gave on corrupt practices.

Dr Muscat spoke after Dr Farrugia but it was only a day later, when an article appeared in The Times naming the magistrate, that the deputy leader was asked to resign.

“If Dr Muscat becomes Prime Minister, it will be the people who will pay for his mistakes,” Dr Busuttil said.