The revelation that two PN MPs sought sponsorship for a party activity from a business man implicated in scandal has prompted Partit Demokratiku to call once again for a lobbyist register and reform of the party financing law.

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"Politics is not a business. It should only ever be about public service. Political parties should not be enterprises which depend on donations from shady corporate interests. Malta and Gozo deserve better. We need to have an airtight lobbyist register. It is the duty of the Commissioner of Public Standards to be a prime mover and set the ball rolling,” party leader Godfrey Farrugia said on Monday.

“It is the obligation of the Chief Electoral Commissioner to keep track of who is donating to or sponsoring our decision makers. I have also said - and repeat - that we should make it more difficult for private interests to donate to parties. We should have state financing of political parties, matched with a token tax aimed at the businesses currently setting the political agenda through their donations. Let us cut the puppeteers’ strings," deputy leader Timothy Alden added.

Partit Demokratiku said it was of the opinion that no situation justified Opposition MPs risking the credibility of the Opposition by asking for handouts from a businessman implicated in many of the recent scandals.

"Currently, the Electoral Commission is tasked with being judge, jury and executioner, a role which the Constitutional Court has challenged, because the Commission is made up of representatives from the two major parties. We require a genuinely independent Electoral Commission, without appointments made by leading officials," MEP candidate Anthony Buttigieg concluded.