The Prime Minister yesterday said it was up to the president of the Nationalist Party to decide whether his political position was untenable, following the debacle over the controversial permit for his farmhouse in Baħrija.

Asked whether he thought Victor Scerri's position was still tenable, Lawrence Gonzi was non-committal: "I can't pass judgment until I know if things were done properly."

However, for the first time since the controversy erupted in June, the Prime Minister placed the question concerning the tenability of Dr Scerri's position on the lap of the party president.

"I hope Victor Scerri can see to this situation himself, he is a man of integrity. I have no doubt that Victor Scerri will take the morally correct decision."

The statement comes as the planning authority chairman is expected to take a decision on a damning audit report which concludes that the permit for the farmhouse is null and should have never been issued.

The go-ahead was given by the Planning Authority in four stages between 2000 and 2007. At every stage, the applications were recommended for refusal by the authority's technical officers but different boards eventually approved the project.

At first the authority was reluctant even to allow major modification to the farmhouse in the Baħrija valley. By the end of it, Dr Scerri was given permission to demolish the entire structure and rebuild it, extending it by a third. Dr Scerri has consistently defended himself saying there was never any wrongdoing on his part and that he had always acted within the law. In fact, he was the one to ask for the questions raised by environmentalists to be investigated.

The question about Dr Scerri's case came right after the Prime Minister delved into the current debate on the reform of the planning authority.

Dr Gonzi strongly defended his decision to take planning policy out of the authority's hands, pointing out that the final decision always rested in the government's hands.

Some criticised this move as a throwback to the times when the minister responsible for development dictated planning, but the Prime Minister denied this categorically.

The government will be responsible for policy as it is its duty to do, but the authority will remain the sole decider of the actual permits.

"Politicians cannot interfere in any way with the permit but the government sets the policy," he said.