The Prime Minister has admitted that appointing Sai Mizzi Liang, the Energy Minister’s wife, to be the government’s envoy for Asia could have been better handled.

Speaking for the first time since her controversial appointment last August, Joseph Muscat accepts that questions about it were legitimate.

“I’m the first to admit we’re not perfect. But what is certain is that we now have the results in hand  I credit Sai Mizzi with the success of a substantial part of this visit,” he said, at the end of his six-day trip to China.

Speculation and criticism have dogged the wife of minister Konrad Mizzi from the very first day, after she was given a direct appointment by the government.

Apart from facing flak for being handpicked, questions were also raised over whether her salary  the Opposition said she was receiving €13,000 a month  was justified.

Last September, Times of Malta had reported that Ms Mizzi Liang would receive a financial package reserved for ambassadors.

The salary and global emoluments given to a Maltese ambassador in China were normally close to €100,000 a year; just over €8,000 a month.

In the meantime, the government did nothing to stem the controversy, further fuelling speculation by refusing to publish her contract. Numerous requests filed by the independent media under the Freedom of Information Act for details on her package were also turned down.

Could the government not have addressed this matter sooner, rather than let it fester for nearly a year?

“Yes, it’s true, but we wanted to confront this issue when we had concrete results in hand, which we do now,” Dr Muscat said, referring to the five-year memorandum of understanding signed with China  the first such cooperation agreement in Europe  among other big projects in the pipeline.

Sitting back in his room after a day at the Eco Forum Global conference, Dr Muscat was asked for his comments after Ms Mizzi Liang finally broke her silence and said she was willing to publish her payslip and FS3 to prove she earned €3,000 a month.

Ms Mizzi Liang had said despite the “hurtful” comments, she believed she had landed the job because she was the best qualified, not because she was the minister’s wife.

Dr Muscat said that while Ms Mizzi Liang had agreed to provide her payslip, her allowances were those of any other ambassador, and he felt her pay package should have never been the issue.

“The Opposition’s criticism that she was the minister’s wife is legitimate; it’s normal to question whether she got the job simply because she’s Konrad Mizzi’s wife. But for me that’s the issue, not her salary,” Dr Muscat added.

When Ms Mizzi Liang revealed her salary, the Nationalist Party questioned why the government had taken so long to dispute the figure of €13,000 when this had been in the public domain for so long.

Reacting, Dr Muscat said: “The Opposition leader chose when to make his statements and I chose when to reply. I preferred to reply with facts, by showing what Ms Mizzi Liang has managed to achieve. I can now face the Maltese and show them that our investment is reaping results.”

Dr Muscat added that Malta had finally also been given the go-ahead to open the consulate general in Shanghai  the province is more of a financial services hub, compared to Beijing that is more of a political centre  which will serve as a base for Ms Mizzi Liang.

At the moment Ms Mizzi Liang has been based in Beijing but since her appointment she remained without an official overseas address; an issue that was raised in Parliament.

“I am confident in saying we made the right choice in Sai Mizzi,” Dr Muscat said.