(Adds PN statement)

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said this morning that while he had no problem in saying that the interconnector project was conceived by the former government, it was the present government which laid it.

The interconnector, linking the Maltese electricity grid with that of Sicily, will be commissioned this evening by Dr Muscat and Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi, who will be here for a few hours.

Dr Muscat said in a One Radio interview that the interconnector project could be likened to the building of a house. The PN signed the promise  of sale agreement and drew up a plan, which was very important.

But it was the present government which got the permits for it and then got along with building it.

The present government actually had also needed to change the plans – altering the route of the interconnector because it would have gone through an oil drilling zone.

Questioned on the Gozo allegations about former minister Giovanna Debono, Dr Muscat said a person had come forward and been accorded official whistleblower protection. Police investigations were under way and would continue.

This case was serious, he said, not just for its criminal but also political implications. This was not an issue limited to the local councils electoral campaign. “This won’t go away,’ he said.

Politically, the leader of the opposition should not continue to evade questions from journalists and he needed to sort out when he was told about this issue, especially as he met this whistleblower a year ago. He also needed to explain why he had not acted after PN General Secretary Chris Said did not disclose that he had received an e-mail detailing the list of works for votes. 

Dr Muscat urged all people to vote on Saturday. He said that it would be better for those having a problem with the government to speak to him or the ministers rather than to stay away from voting. This was not a government of recorded phone calls, but it was prepared to converse. 

Dr Muscat went over the government's record, including lower taxes, grants to low income families and the granting of new civil rights and said much more was to come.

But in a statement this afternoon, the Nationalist Party accused the Prime Minister of not knowing the facts or lying on purpose.

It said the tender and permits were issued and given by a Nationalist government, EU funds were obtained by a Nationalist government, the cable started being built by a Nationalist government and the only thing Labour did was place the cable in place, a year behind schedule.