Opposition leader Simon Busuttil avoids talking about the Gozitan works-for-votes “racket” because he is covering up for his own shortcomings, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said yesterday.

Addressing a political rally in Gżira ahead of Saturday’s local council elections, Dr Muscat said Dr Busuttil was not being upfront on the scandal.

The alleged racket was uncovered by a Gozitan whistleblower last month and revolves around former Gozo minister Giovanna Debono’s husband Anthony, who allegedly employed contractors to carry out works for constituents using public funds.

Repeatedly referring to Dr Busuttil as “Mr Transparency”, Dr Muscat said the Opposition leader had been avoiding the press for several days.

The Easter holidays are over and Mr Transparency hasn’t risen yet

There were glaring contradictions in the versions of events given by Dr Busuttil and PN general secretary Chris Said on when they first found out about the scandal. PN party president Anne Fenech had also given a different account of when the party’s top brass had learned of it, while deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami had declined to comment, he added.

“The Easter holidays are over and Mr Transparency hasn’t risen yet. He is hiding himself away so as not to speak about this racket, not in order to protect Debono or Said but to cover up for himself and his shortcomings,” he said.

Dr Muscat also spoke about the new project for the locality, the €100 million Metropolis Plaza which he said would employ around 400 locals. Its wealth would trickle down to residents by increasing the value of their property, he said.