The National Audit Office insisted that its only interest was to serve Parliament and the people, rejecting accusations of having a political agenda.

It was reacting to harsh criticism levelled at it by former planning parliamentary secretary Michael Falzon when he spoke in Parliament on Tuesday.

Dr Falzon, who lost his junior ministerial seat last January following a damning report by the Attorney General, accused the constitutional office of political bias and inconsistency. His criticism came just a day after the publication of two reports by the Auditor General focusing on the transfer of two properties in Valletta and Qormi under the watch of the Nationalist government and former minister Jason Azzopardi.

Dr Falzon complained that, contrary to the Auditor General’s original intention of collating four investigations on the acquisition of land in a single report, he changed his mind and opted to publish them separately. Dr Falzon charged that the NAO report on the expropriation of a Valletta palazzo, whose publication led to his resignation from Cabinet, had jumped the queue simply to appease the Nationalist Party.

He charged that the report had jumped the queue to appease the PN

He also alleged that the NAO had its agenda dictated by certain newspapers and recalled the crusade conducted against him by a Times of Malta journalist who, he said, “went home to roost” at the PN headquarters. He was critical of the timing of last Monday’s reports, saying they were intentionally published during Christmas week, when the media switched off from politics.

A spokesman for the Auditor General rebutted Dr Falzon’s accusations, saying the NAO’s reports were based on a totally independent and objective analysis of facts and information at its disposal.

As for the decision to collate all four investigations into one report, the spokesman said that this had been the original intention in response to a request made by the government members of the Public Accounts Committee. However, the option was not feasible in view of the considerable length of the reports, the spokesman added.

He also pointed out that the decision to issue the reports prior to the Christmas recess had been announced by the Auditor General during a recent PAC sitting, when it was decided to proceed accordingly. The other two investigations were under way, the spokesman said.

This newspaper asked the Office of the Prime Minister whether it condoned the criticism levelled at the NAO by one of its MPs. However, a spokesman took issue with the manner in which the Times of Malta had reported the NAO’s reports.

“Two damning NAO reports are given page-eight prominence in a 600-word mashup story… So much for holding the government and the Opposition on the same level of scrutiny.

“Unbelievable. The double standards by the Times of Malta have reached record levels,” the spokesman said.

In a subsequently reply, the spokesman reiterated that Dr Falzon had resigned following a report by the NAO similar to the two dealing with cases that unfolded when Dr Azzopardi was the minister responsible for land.

“Dr Azzopardi should be taking a few lessons from the way Dr Falzon acted when he resigned despite his strong reservations,” the spokesman said.