Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne on Tuesday refused to say whether he believed Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi and the Prime Minister’s chief of staff Keith Schembri should be removed in light of the revelations on once-secret company 17 Black.

In comments to the press, Mr Fearne refused to say whether he personally believed that the pair, whose two Panama companies would have received payments from 17 Black, should be removed, instead insisting that there were “judicial processes underway”.

He also reiterated comments by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat that the investigation by the Times of Malta and Reuters served as proof that the authorities in Malta were doing their job.

When it was pointed out to the minister that Dr Muscat had filed an appeal in an attempt to halt the inquiry looking into 17 Black, Mr Fearne said that as is the case in other European countries, “every citizen had the right to appeal” any process.

“That is what is happening and we need to let the institutions do their work,” Mr Fearne noted before refusing to reply to any further questions by this newspaper on the matter.