Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt’s claims that he “forgot” to declare a Swiss bank account significantly dented his credibility, Labour leader Joseph Muscat said yesterday.

“A Swiss bank account is not something you just happen to forget,” Dr Muscat said, adding that “any politician, anywhere in the world, saying such a thing would be asked questions.”

He compared the case to that of former Nationalist MP Lino Gauci Borda, who, in 1994, had resigned his parliamentary seat following allegations he had evaded tax by not declaring a foreign account.

Saying that Dr Gatt got “caught up in a panic”, Dr Muscat added the minister’s credibility was further strained by inconsistencies in his statements.

“First, he said he could vaguely remember meeting (rogue oil trader) George Farrugia and implied they had spoken about constituency matters. Now, he’s saying they met once every three months and discussed things like oil storage. The difference between that and oil procurement is practically semantic,” Dr Muscat said.

The Labour leader was speaking during a One TV programme broadcast live from Siġġiewi. Surrounded by the party’s younger electoral and council candidates, Dr Muscat announced a self-imposed deadline for an eventual Labour government. A Whistleblower Act, party financing legislation and the removal of time-barring in cases of political corruption would all be in place by the summer holidays, he said, adding that “citizens need to be assured that whoever is in government there are adequate safeguards in place to protect against corruption”.

Dr Muscat also spoke about Air Malta, likening it to a “national lung” and saying the PL was completely committed to the carrier.

Making the airline part of the Tourism Ministry’s remit, as the PL was proposing, made sense for a country that got a third of its income from tourism, he said.

He appeared to question figures quoted by the restructured airline. “Some of the changes seem to be positive. We just hope all the facts and figures are being laid on the table.”

Members of the police force also stood to gain from a PL government, Dr Muscat said. He promised officers better conditions and equipment as well as specialised units to police certain areas like tourist hotspots but warned officers would also be made more accountable. He mentioned two tangible examples: police stations with holding cells would be blanket-covered with CCTV and interrogations would be recorded. Both proposals, he said, had received the police association’s blessing.