UPDATED 17:31 PN: de Marco criticism is hypocritical
The PN this afternoon again called upon Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to take immediate action and sack his Chief of Staff Keith Schembri and Minister Konrad Mizzi without delay.
The resignation calls came after the PL had challenged PN deputy leader Mario de Marco to publish invoices related to works done on his property by a contractor embroiled in the Panama scandal.
Addressing a press conference, PN MP Claudette Buttigieg said that it was becoming obvious that the Prime Minister was more interested in buying time for his two closest associates than finding the courage to do what everyone was expecting him to do.
The latest excuse Dr Muscat had raised to not take a decision was that he was expecting the result of an audit.
“Let us make it clear. The audit will not find anything and is another PM smokescreen. As if any audit in the world can unveil secrets one is trying to hide,” Ms Buttigieg argued.
“If Mizzi and Schembri wanted to be transparent they would not even have thought of opening secret companies in Panama,” she said.
Shadow Minster Chris Said said that the Prime Minster had to take action.
“Dr Muscat went on the record saying that if Dr Mizzi is found to be lying he will have to leave. Dr Mizzi and Mr Schembri has been caught of not telling the truth many times now. What is the Prime Minister waiting for? Dr Said asked.
The PN shadow minister said that at this stage, if the Prime Minister cannot walk his talk he would have to resign himself.
Dr de Marco must publish invoices - PL
Earlier today, the PL reiterated its challenge to Nationalist Party deputy leader Mario de Marco to publish invoices "proving that works done on his property by Redmap Ltd were not a gift".
PN deputy leader Mario de Marco.
Despite having had 100 hours to do so, Dr de Marco had remained silent, it said.
The PL accused Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil of double standards on the issue. Dr Busuttil had wasted no time in calling for government MPs to publish documents in cases arousing suspicion, the PL said, but he seemed to be in no hurry to do so now that his deputy leader had been asked to do the same.
The PL said that Dr de Marco had done nothing to remove the seeds of doubt that had been sown by questions surrounding Redmap Ltd's works on his property.
Questions have been raised about Dr de Marco's failure to pay for works done on his property by Redmap Ltd until last month. A report in Malta Today had said that the works, worth €34,000, were only paid for after the Panama affair erupted last month when the PN deputy leader asked for an invoice.
Dr de Marco has strenuously denied claims that the works were a gift, saying that works were ongoing and the company had insisted an invoice be issued only when all construction work was completed.
Dr de Marco is a member in the Strickland Foundation, which is the major shareholder in Allied Newspapers (ANL), publishers of the Times of Malta.
Redmap Construction has carried out works at Allied's Mriehel property and was a partner in a company that bought Canberra House in Valletta from ANL.
In March, ANL's managing director Adrian Hillman resigned following allegations that the PM's chief of staff Keith Schembri paid him kickbacks for work given to
Kasco Holdings, one of the companies he owned. Both men deny the allegations.
ANL has commissioned an inquiry into the matter.
100 hours? Try 1,440 - PN
A PN reaction was immediate. By the PL's measure, it said, the Prime Minister had now spent 1,440 hours defending his associates Dr Mizzi and Mr Schembri.
It was the height of hypocrisy to attack Dr de Marco for using the same contractor used by Parliamentary Secretary Ian Borg, a party statement said.