European Commissioner John Dalli has categorically denied rumours making the rounds of social media that he has any link with rebel Nationalist backbencher Franco Debono.

Mr Dalli said yesterday that he had never met or spoken to Dr Debono since he took up his post in Brussels in 2010. The “campaign of lies, deceit” was “not a coincidence” and was “orchestrated by certain people”, he said.

“I categorically and completely deny any rumour. I deny ever having any contact with Franco Debono. I have not spoken to (Dr) Debono for a very long time. I think I have never met him since I became European Commissioner,” he said in comments to The Times before returning to Brussels.

Mr Dalli, who resigned his ministerial post to take up his position as Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy in Brussels in February 2010, had contested the election in 2004 for the leadership of the Nationalist Party but lost to Lawrence Gonzi.

He denounced the rumour that he had met Dr Debono in Rome when the latter was there on a private visit at the end of last year. “This is a blatant lie because when Dr Debono was in Rome I was in Malta enjoying my two grandchildren while on holiday from Commission work. Such lies are not a coincidence but done purposely,” he said, as he continued to stress that this was “...a campaign of lies intended to hurt”.

Asked whether this campaign was being manoeuvred from within the PN, Mr Dalli replied: “You are journalist. You read the blogs and you watch TV. You know who is pushing these lies and rumours.”

He added: “I am used to the various campaigns about me over the long number of years I have been in politics. We know what they were and where they came from.”

Mr Dalli would not be drawn into commenting on the local political arena where Dr Debono is threatening to bring down the PN in government.

“Naturally, I do have an opinion (on what is happening) and I am following it closely but it is not the right time to express this opinion. It is a question of facts and not about what I think. Who’s stirring the pot knows what’s in it.”