The Opposition leader is still without the supplementary salary he is meant to be receiving for duties as an MP along with ministers and parliamentary secretaries, and the government is refusing to explain why.
For the last three years, Cabinet members have been receiving an extra weekly pay of € 367 per week, representing an MP's honorarium. As the Leader of the Opposition, this amount was also supposed to have been paid to Joseph Muscat.
The decision on this extra remuneration was taken by the government at the beginning of this legislature as just compensation for the work carried out by ministers and parliamentary secretaries.
It was at the time also decided to raise MPs' honorarium to €26,771 a year from €19,112.
However, the matter sparked outrage last December when it came to light in answer to a parliamentary question. The apparent secrecy in which the raise was given came under heavy criticism as was its perceived insensitivity given the poor economic climate.
It was also revealed that while, Cabinet members had started receiving their extra pay, other MPs were still getting theirs at the old rate.
The Labour Party took a stand against the increases and set up a charity fund in which its MPs could sink their additional remuneration. Dr Muscat even promised to renounce all of his extra salary, which would add up to € 133,855 over the span of a five year legislature.
Meanwhile, Nationalist backbenchers, particularly Jean-Pierre Farrugia, slammed their government's decision, raising the pressure until the government agreed to put any changes to MPs' salaries on hold.
Ministers and parliamentary secretaries were allowed to keep the extra income as parliamentarians but had to gradually refund the difference between the old and new rates since for three years they received a weekly €515 instead of the honorarium of €367. During a number of House Business Committee meetings held to discuss this matter, the Labour Party proposed a mechanism through which any rises to politicians could be done publicly and transparently by an external body. But the government insisted on limiting the discussion to MPs' pay, despite the Labour Party's insistence that the mechanism should also apply to salaries of Cabinet members.
No agreement was reached and the matter was subsequently overshadowed by the divorce referendum manoeuvrings.
But four months after it was announced that Cabinet members had been receiving an increased MPs' honorarium, Dr Muscat has still not received a cent.
When asked for the details of its charity fund, Labour said: " Joseph Muscat has not yet received the scandalous double salary the Prime Minister endowed upon himself and his ministers.
"This goes to show that the decision to try to include the Opposition leader and, eventually, all other Members of Parliament was simply a charade."
Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry has refused to say why Dr Muscat has been excluded.
The Times asked a ministry spokesman for an update of how much of their extra salaries ministers and parliamentary secretaries refunded so far as well as why Dr Muscat had not yet been paid his MP's salary and whether the government considered this matter to be closed.
Several reminders later , the ministry issued this reply by email: "Further to the press release issued by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs on February 2, 2011, ministers and parliamentary secretaries are currently refunding t he difference in salaries through reductions in their actual salary. This will be paid back over a period of 24 months."
When pressed for a final time about why the Opposition leader's salary had not been issued, the spokesman said: "I don't have the information at this time."