Financial Services regulator Joe Bannister is the next public figure in Marlene Farrugia's sights, with the independent MP saying she intends to table a motion to discuss his position.

Dr Farrugia said she would give Labour MP Silvio Schembri two weeks to summon Prof. Bannister to parliament's economic and financial affairs parliamentary committee, which he chairs. 

If that didn't happen, Dr Farrugia wrote on Facebook, "I will move a motion to discuss the points Varist [Bartolo] is making in the plenary." 

Education Minister Evarist Bartolo has publicly blasted Prof. Bannister on several occasions, saying that his role as a director in a Cayman Islands collective investment scheme conflicted with his position as chairman of the Malta Financial Services Authority. 

Dr Farrugia's Facebook post. Photo: Facebook

Mr Bartolo has also said that Prof. Bannister has been in the position for too long, and that it is time for fresh blood to run Malta's financial services sector. Prof. Bannister has led the MFSA since its creation way back in 1999, and he was also at the helm of its preceding authority, the Malta Financial Services Centre. His term was last extended in 2014.

Prof. Bannister has limited himself to saying he had outlined his Cayman Islands position to both Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and his predecessor Lawrence Gonzi and that they had both decided the case was "closed."

In a radio interview on Ghandi Xi Nghid earlier today, Mr Bartolo insisted that his calls for Prof. Bannister to go were not a crusade, simply saying that "it's not healthy for someone to retain his position for 20 years". 

The Prime Minister had earlier this month said that while he respected Mr Bartolo's opinion, Prof. Bannister enjoyed his full confidence. 

And it seemed as though Mr Bartolo's criticism of Prof. Bannister had failed to take root with his parliamentary colleagues - until now. 

"We have a Cabinet Minister strongly pronouncing himself in the issue of MFSA chairman Joe Bannister," Marlene Farrugia wrote today. "The least we can do is summon Joe Bannister to the Economic and Financial Affairs Parliamentary Committee... It is too serious a situation to ignore." 

Dr Farrugia has had a busy few weeks. She has tabled no confidence motions against Minister Without Portfolio Konrad Mizzi and Prime Ministerial Chief of Staff Keith Schembri over their involvement in the Panama Papers, and also called for a moratorium on large-scale developments.