Environment Minister Leo Brincat yesterday adamantly refused to say whether his Cabinet colleague at the centre of the Panamagate scandal should resign.

Asked several times, Mr Brincat repeatedly said he was “not in a position to comment”.

The veteran politician was mentioned in various news reports as one of the members of the Labour parliamentary group who, on Monday, vehemently called for Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi’s resignation as well as that of the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, Keith Schembri.

Mr Brincat, the reports claimed, echoed calls by Education Minister Evarist Bartolo, who took the stand during the meeting de-scribed as “very animated”. The meeting was convened to discuss the Panama Papers, which started being leaked on Sunday night.

Questioned about the matter yesterday, Mr Brincat refused to comment, saying he would not say what had happened during a parliamentary group meeting.

But even when asked for his opinion, Mr Brincat stuck to the same reply: “I am of the opinion that I am not in a position to comment on the matter.”

He even gave the same reply when asked what damage the Panama saga had caused to the government and the Labour Party.

When asked his opinion, he stuck to the same reply: ‘I am of the opinion that I am not in a position to comment’

Such attitude is in line with the unease in Labour circles over the controversy.

Last month, Mr Bartolo posted comments that Ġużè Ellul Mercer, a prolific leftist writer and a former party deputy leader, made in an article he penned in 1929 and entitled Why I Militate in the Workers’ Party.

“On days like these, I recall Ġużè Ellul Mercer’s words,” Mr Bartolo wrote in the post, which was interpreted by Labour insiders as a direct reference to the Panama affair.

At the grassroots level, Labourites are feeling “extremely uncomfortable” with what has happened, according to sources close to the Labour Party.

The sources feel the Panama scandal hijacked the debate and overshadowed the government’s work in various fields.

They acknowledged that the Panama saga had created “trust issues” for the government, especially with middle-of-the-road voters and risked derailing the government from concentrating on the things that mattered.

Dr Mizzi was recently elected as the party’s deputy leader, days after it was reported that he owned a New Zealand trust that, in turn, acquired a Panamanian shell company.

He defended his choices, declaring he would be closing the Panama company once a tax audit was completed.