Nationalist Party deputy leader Mario de Marco this evening expressed regret that his dual role as politician and lawyer had "upset or angered" people in recent weeks. 

Speaking on NET TV, Dr de Marco said he had never met with a government minister or politician to discuss db Group's contract to take over the former ITS site at St George's Bay, and that his only two meetings with the government side were with the government's lawyer. 

Dr de Marco has come under fire for his role as legal adviser to Silvio Debono's db Group, which plans to develop hotels, apartments, restaurants and shopping malls in a €300m project planned for the St George's Bay site. 

PN leader Simon Busuttil has expressed doubts about the way in which the site was valued and the contract negotiated and signed, and asked the Attorney General to investigate.

Dr de Marca resigned his brief with Mr Debono's company following mounting pressure about his dual roles.

"The most important thing for me is that there is no conflict between my interests and those of the [PN] party's," he said during his NET TV interview. 

Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister Konrad Mizzi has claimed that Dr de Marco negotiated all aspects of the St George's Bay contract - a claim Dr de Marco again strenuously denied this evening.

Dr de Marco said that the legal firm he leads, Guido de Marco & Associates, had been hired by db Group in 2013 and again in late 2015. 

'de Marco was forced to apologise' - PL 

In a statement, the Labour Party said that Dr de Marco had given up the db Group brief after the St George's Bay contract had been signed, and wondered if he was now saying that the contract was irregular. 

"The truth is that Dr de Marco was caught and forced to apologise," the PL said. "But because he knows that everything was done by the book, and because he was involved, he cannot speak against the project."

Tensions between Mr Debono's db Group and the PN have reached breaking point over recent weeks, following the company's claims that it had been directly asked for donations to cover the salaries of two of the PN's top officials. 

The PN has denied the claim and said that more than €70,000 handed to its media arm Media.Link by db Group-linked companies were part of a commercial relationship between the two entities.