The European Peoples' Party this afternoon called on Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to resign.

“It is unprecedented that a Prime Minister of a country holding the Presidency of the EU is under formal magisterial investigation and he still refuses to resign,” EPP group chairman in the European Parliament, Manfred Weber, said.

In a statement this afternoon, he said that justice in Malta only applied to the common people.

"To the selected few it doesn’t apply. This is what I call selective justice.

Malta, he said, was an EU country holding the rotating presidency of the EU.

"Needless to say, this is linked to Malta’s reputation as a stable country where EU and foreign companies can do business without unnecessary risks. I have one thing to say to the Maltese Prime Minister: reputation is essential for a country like Malta and it seems that you have forgotten this tenet to the detriment of the Maltese people."

Mr Weber thanked Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil for showing leadership in the circumstances and for fighting this alleged corruption tooth and nail.

"At least foreign investors in Malta know that there is another Malta which values honesty, integrity and sustainability,” he said.