Adrian Delia said on Thursday that his position about the Egrant inquiry has not changed, despite comments by former leader Simon Busuttil that he still believed the prime minister owned the secret Panamanian company.

The Nationalist Party leader said Dr Busuttil was free to believe what he wished, but much of the reason for this was driven by the attorney general's refusal to publish the full inquiry report. 

“The easiest thing to do to end this speculation is to publish the document, which is of national interest, so the people can know the truth,” Dr Delia said. 

Dr Delia reiterated that Dr Busuttil was free to believe what he felt he should believe.

To be part of a political party does not mean you lose your brain and stop believing in something or otherwise

“To be part of a political party does not mean you lose your brain and stop believing in something or otherwise.”

Soon after the inquiry report was published, Dr Delia had expressed confidence in the magistrate who conducted it and said the party accepted the conclusions of the Egrant report.

But Dr Busuttil, speaking in Parliament on Wednesday said the report’s conclusions did not say that Egrant did not belong to the prime minister. What they said was that ‘it does not result’ that Egrant was his, which was very different.

Meanwhile, MP Hermann Schiavone, a close associate of Dr Delia, in a Facebook post on Thursday morning distanced the PN from Dr Busuttil's declaration.  

Watch: Was Michelle Muscat's signature forged? OPM 'clarifies' Prime Minister's comment

Dr Schiavone said Dr Busuttil's declaration was his own personal view, something he had a right to hold. 

"However, in no way is it the official party's position. The party's leader has, many times, insisted that he has full trust in the magistrate and the party accepts the conclusions of the Egrant report."

Reacting to comments, Dr Schiavone said his post was meant to counter additional damage to the party and its leader. 

"Dr Busuttil is not the enemy, but a colleague who just like me has his own personal beliefs about various issues that do not fall in line with the party's position.

"There is nothing wrong with that, however, we can never weigh down the party with our own beliefs. That is why I discuss and debate my own beliefs within the party, not out in public," he said in another comment.

He also insisted that the party had to move on, and a loss by 40,000 votes reflected the party's wrong strategy. 

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.