The Labour and Nationalist parties squabbled over the household that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat visited on Tuesday evening, which he admitted yesterday belonged to a “distant relative”.

Dr Muscat, however, denied knowing beforehand that he was related to the family he met as part of Labour’s European Parliament election campaign.

The PN had claimed the household he visited in Senglea belonged to his cousin.

It said family Buhagiar lived there but the Labour Party and its media had referred to it as family Bartolo.

Asked about this yesterday, Dr Muscat admitted it was only after the event that he discovered that a relative on the side of the woman’s grandmother, who hailed from Gozo, was distantly related to his father.

Questioned why the family surname was changed from Buhagiar to Bartolo in the press call and press release issued by the Labour communications unit, Dr Muscat said this “could have been a genuine mistake”.

In a statement, the PN said the way Dr Muscat had launched the Labour Party’s electoral campaign sharply contrasted with how he had kicked off the general election campaign a year ago.

He had now locked himself “in an ivory tower” and was avoiding journalists and people.

It was clear, the party said, that the PM was more comfortable with people who were close to him.

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