Prime Minister Joseph Muscat this morning dismissed calls to step aside until investigations into allegations on both his wife and chief of staff are carried out, reiterating the claims were baseless lies by the Opposition.

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil has in the past days called on Dr Muscat to step down in light of allegations that his chief of staff Keith Schembri took kickbacks from the controversial cash-for-passports scheme.

The claims came just days after blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia alleged on her blog that his wife Michelle was the owner of Panama company Egrant. Mr Schembri has denied the allegations.

Read: Schembri accused of passport sale kickbacks by Busuttil

Asked by the Times of Malta whether he deemed it best to step aside until the investigations were carried out, Dr Muscat said he would not do so simply because the allegations were based on lies by Dr Busuttil.

“Yesterday we once again started with the tantrums and now not only does Dr Busuttil want to get rid of me but he also wants to send me to jail.

“This is the situation we are in and all this is a reflection of the Opposition leader’s character,” Dr Muscat said.

Asked for his reaction following reports that former police chief Michael Cassar had walked away from his role a day after the government’s anti-money laundering agency (FIAU) recommended further investigations into the Mr Schembri, Dr Muscat said that he was surprised that there were reports on this since he himself did not even have access to such reports.

Read: FIAU had asked police to probe Keith Schembri

“As Prime Minister I have no right to access reports by the FIAU and I do not even know what the FIAU is working on,” the Prime Minister said.

He added he believed Mr Cassar’s statements had been misinterpreted and insisted he stood by the former commissioner.

The Times of Malta stands by its report.