Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi insisted today that there had been no conflict of interest when Finance Minister Tonio Fenech travelled to London to watch an Arsenal game with entrepreneur Joe Gasan on a plane owned by another entrepreneur, George Fenech.
The issue of a potential conflict of interest was raised at a meeting of the PN parliamentary group yesterday.
However Dr Gonzi said when speaking at the Zurrieq PN club this morning that the minister had spoken to him about the trip before deciding to go, and he agreed because this was only a football match.
Replying to questions by journalist Keith Demicoli, Dr Gonzi said this was a case of people trying to throw mud because the government was about to issue gaming licences. He said there was much common ground within the parliamentary group on the regulations to be issued under the new Gaming law, and the regulations would not be very different to what was originally proposed by Mr Fenech.
Dr Gonzi said the issue of the power station extension was not debated at length in yesterday's meeting because they ran out of time. But it was agreed that the parliamentary debate requested by the Opposition could not take place before the Auditor-General completed his investigation into the tendering process. After all, Dr Gonzi said, it was the Opposition itself which requested the investigation. Holding the debate before the investigation was completed could be seen as putting pressure on the auditor.
Dr Gonzi said the upgrading of the Cirkewwa terminal and Ta' Qali crafts centre remained on the government agenda, but funds had to be sourced for them.
He said projects were being planned for Fort St Elmo and emergency work would be carried out to stop deterioration at Fort St Angelo.
On the Budget, he said it would seek to encourage investors, local and foreign, to invest in Malta and create jobs. However, those who were in need would not be forgotten.
Dr Gonzi also spoke on the situation in the Labour Party and said that the transfer of Jason Micallef to head Super One only made a a bad situation worse, and did not say much on the earthquake that Joseph Muscat had promised.