The Prime Minister is expected to take a decision on minister Konrad Mizzi in the coming days, Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis told reporters at a Labour Party press conference.

He was unable to name the audit company which is examining the energy minister's accounts in the wake of the revelations in the Panama Papers, but insisted it has absolutely no connection with the government.

Edward Zammit Lewis

The  Prime Minister, he said, would announce his decision after considering the audit and public sentiment.

Dr Zammit Lewis argued that the Prime Minister had consistently shown that he did not shirk from taking tough decisions. He cited the Manuel Mallia case as an example of this.

That was in contrast to Opposition leader Simon Busuttil, who had taken no action over his deputy Mario de Marco, despite revelations that a contractor had worked on his property while he was minister responsible for Mepa, but he was not paid until recently, when the contractor's name also appeared in the Panama Papers.  

This case, Dr Zammit Lewis said, constituted a clear breach of ethics. A contractor had worked on a minister's property but not been paid while the minister was in office.

He said Dr Busuttil would be showing double standards if he adopted one line of action for his MPs and a different one for those on the government benches. 

PN: THE PRIME MINISTER SHOULD HAVE ACTED A LONG TIME AGO

In a reaction, the Nationalist Party said the prime minister should have taken action against Konrad Mizzi and chief of staff Keith Schembri a long time ago, rather than repeating their 'lies'. He should have acted as soon as it became known that they had set up secret companies in Panama and made numerous attempts to open bank accounts abroad.  

The PN also asked the tourism minister to read Dr de Marco's detailed explanations about his case.