Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando has accused the PN executive president of “doublespeak” when she said his claim that Richard Cachia Caruana colluded with Labour officials in 1996 would be discussed at a meeting this month.

Dr Pullicino Orlando had told Malta Today the matter would not be discussed at the next meeting on July 12 but would simply be read out as correspondence.

But PN executive president Marthese Portelli told the Malta Independent that, according to procedure, any received correspondence was discussed as a standard item on the agenda.

She added that it would then be up to the executive to determine the way forward.

Dr Pullicino Orlando yesterday sent a press release in reply to the Malta Independent story claiming it was made “amply clear” to him that the letter would merely be read out as correspondence.

To prove his point, Dr Pullicino Orlando forwarded an e-mail he sent Dr Portelli, to which he had not yet received a reply. The first line of his e-mail reads: “I just wanted to ensure that the issue I drew your attention to will not be discussed in the forthcoming meeting. You will obviously appreciate that I need to prepare myself for the presentation and inform the witnesses.”

He concluded his press statement by saying: “I am not, in any way, denying that Dr Portelli has every right to chart the best way forward in any way she deems fit, but engaging in ‘doublespeak’ is incorrect.”