Opposition leader Simon Busuttil this morning accused the prime minister of acting like a Super One journalist after on Friday he raised questions during the Xarabank debate on how a firm he was associated with had won governemnt contracts.

During the leaders' debate Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said that a legal firm Dr Busuttil formed part of had received €412,000 worth of contracts under the previous administration. A part of this sum, running into thousands of euros, came from direct orders awarded by former Resources Minister George Pullicino.

During the debate Dr Busuttil responded by saying that the prime minister was not making a distinction between those companies selected after a competitive process and which had an established competence, and those which were chosen because they were friends of the prime minister.

On Sunday, Labour newspaper KullHadd published a story claiming that Dr Busuttil's company benefited from direct orders. Dr Muscat returned to the subject yesterday and accused him of lying during the debate.

When answering questions from journalists after visiting Inspire, a facility for the disabled, Dr Busuttil said it was shameful for the Prime Minister to act as if he were still "a Super One journalist".

Whenver the prime minister was in a corner, he threw mud at others because he himself had something to hide, Dr Busuttil said. He said that to attack the leader of the opposition in this way was regressive and shocking when the government itself had thrown meritocracy out of the window. 

What the company he was associated with had done was public and had been known for years, Dr Busuttil said.

In a counter statement, the Labour Party said the Opposition leader was not untouchable  and he should say how much money he earned from contracts awarded by the former government.

 

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