Labour leader Joseph Muscat yesterday declined to answer any questions raised in an incendiary interview with former party deputy leader Anġlu Farrugia, as Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi upped the pressure on his political adversary.

Labour has sold its soul and is not the workers’ party it once represented

Six weeks after being forced to resign, Dr Farrugia told The Sunday Times he had been backstabbed by the Labour leader and claimed the PL was becoming too close to contractors.

At a press conference outside the Paola Health Centre, Dr Muscat would not be drawn on Dr Farrugia’s statements that Labour was getting too close to big businesses and developers, saying only that it was “a matter of interpretation”.

Dr Muscat insisted he had no further comments to make on Dr Farrugia, amid applause from the supporters who gathered round.

The Labour leader also replied with a “no comment” when asked whether this issue involving Dr Farrugia was a closed chapter for him and the Labour Party.

But Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi insisted that his political adversary had to come clean on Dr Farrugia’s serious accusations, particularly on the party’s connections with contractors and big businessmen.

Dr Gonzi told a news conference that, while the PN had been hearing rumours that Dr Muscat was meeting big businessman and making many promises, the former Labour deputy leader had now confirmed the PL had become “a party of contractors”.

Dr Gonzi said that, although Dr Muscat was trying to keep silent, the electorate was expecting him to give details on these contacts, identify the big businessmen involved and explain what secret deals have been struck.

Claiming Labour had sold its soul and was not the workers’ party it once represented, he asked whether these businessmen were now dictating Labour’s policies.

“Is this why this idea of separating the environment from planning (in a future planning authority)? Who is pushing for this? Labour or its new friends?” he asked.

Dr Gonzi made the same accusations about Labour’s energy proposal. “Who is pushing for an LNG terminal and a €600 million power plant the country doesn’t need?” he asked.

A Labour spokesman told The Times on Sunday that the party had welcomed big business into its “movement”, a coalition of workers and employers.

“Businessmen, even the bigger ones, feel betrayed by GonziPN and want a level playing field. They tell us how GonziPN gave the country to a handful of conglomerates.”

In Sunday’s interview, Dr Farrugia shot down Dr Muscat’s claim that he was forced to resign over comments he made about a magistrate following a court case.

He claimed he had been informed Dr Muscat had planned to keep him out of the deputy prime minister’s post if elected.

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