Finance Minister Tonio Fenech's "panicky" reaction to claims that he had received a gift worth over €5,000 from rogue oil trader George Farrugia were tantamount to intimidating a state witness, Labour leader Joseph Muscat said this morning.

Speaking from Ta' Xbiex, Dr Muscat attacked Mr Fenech by saying he was no stranger to bribery allegations.

His private secretary had testified in court that he had taken bribes in exchange for fixing people's tax bills, and that the money had gone towards the minister's electoral campaign, Dr Muscat said. One contractor had also reportedly carried out renovations on the minister's house in exchange for help in the sale of the Jerma Palace hotel, he added.

Cabinet had decided to grant Mr Farrugia a presidential pardon in exchange for his full testimony, Dr Muscat noted. It now had to let the trader divulge all he knew without intimidating him, and Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi had a decision to make, he said.

"Will the Prime Minister continue to defend his finance minister at all costs?" Dr Muscat asked.

Mr Fenech had tried to implicate former PL financial administrator Joe Cordina in the oil corruption case "to deflect attention" from his own involvement, the PL leader said.

Mr Cordina was a director in the fiduciary company which owned Aikon Ltd, the company in eye of the oil corruption storm, before Mr Farrugia assumed full ownership of it.

Dr Muscat said Mr Cordina was completely innocent and had no involvement in the scandal. By Mr Fenech's yardstick, he said, the Prime Minister's son, who played a similar role in the corruption-hit Italian firm Maugeri foundation, was also guilty of corruption, he said.

"Let me be clear: I think he is extraneous to all of this. But using Mr Fenech's logic, he isn't," Dr Muscat said.

With the Labour party's female candidates sitting behind him, Dr Muscat spoke about the importance of involving more women in politics and paid work.

He said he would have liked to have more female electoral candidates but hoped that the next legislature would have more female MPs than any other in Maltese history.

Asked about the enthusiastic reaction he had received from students at campuses across the island, Dr Muscat said that the PN's reaction was a case of sour grapes.

"They must come to terms with the fact that they no longer have a monopoly on the nation's youth," he said. "And neither do we. Young people are generally free thinkers. They were the ones who pushed for us to speak about unity and move away from partisanship," he said.

The PL leader also reiterated his support of stipends, saying that, having received a stipend himself when he was a student, he was well aware of their importance.