Labour Monday's vote in Parliament was described by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi this morning as "a terrible experience".

Dr Gonzi was speaking during his Sunday meeting with supporters at the PN headquarters.

Last Monday's vote led to the resignation of Malta's ambassador in the EU Richard Cachia Caruana as Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando voted with the opposition while Jesmond Mugliett abstained

This vote, Dr Gonzi said, came at a delicate time for Malta, when the country was preparing to get down to important negotiations on its financial package for 2013 to 2020.

If things were not done property, Malta could lose millions of euros but the opposition had no shame in hindering the work of the people who could get the best for Malta. People abroad, he noted, were questioning how could such a move take place in an EU country.

Referring to PN's executive condemnation of the Nationalist MPs who did not vote with the government on this motion and on that taken two weeks ago, which led to the resignation of former Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici, Dr Gonzi said the executive had spoken clearly and unanimously and consequences would have to be shouldered. In that vote, Naitonalist MP Franco Debono had voted with the Opposition.

This morning's meeting took a new format in that it also streamed online and on Net TV and the Prime Minister answered questions as submitted by people following the debate online.

Dr Gonzi took a question from Joanne Ellul Lanfranco, one of the finalists in the Prime Minister for a Day competition, who had proposed the setting up of a centre for people with eating disorders.

The Prime Minister said the proposal had been a major coincidence, since a similar proposal had been made by President George Abela and plans were in the pipeline for such a centre to be set up, offering holistic services.

The Prime Minister also criticised the PL's applications in court for the removal of names from the electoral register and said this was "old labour at its best".