Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi and the rest of the “Panama Papers gang” must step down after finally accepting they would be subject to a criminal investigation, former Opposition leader Simon Busuttil said.

Reacting to news that Dr Mizzi would not be appealing a court decision to include him in a Panama Papers inquiry, Dr Busuttil said those involved should resign until the investigation is over. If they remained in office, it would put unnecessary pressure on investigators, he said.

Former Opposition leader Simon Busuttil.

A court last month ruled that evidence of a crime could exist in the Panama Papers. It said the evidence presented by Dr Busuttil and NGO Repubblika gave credence to the request for an inquiry to preserve evidence. Facts were submitted in court which could indicate a crime took place, Magistrate Doreen Clarke found.

Noting that the list of potential crimes presented to it were not fully covered by another inquiry conducted by a different magistrate, the court ordered that the evidence produced should form part of this other inquiry, which is looking into the ownership of the Dubai company 17 Black.

Dr Mizzi told The Malta Independent earlier this week the decision not to appeal the inquiry decree was taken after a careful review of the decree. This simply referred the matter to another inquiry, he was quoted saying.

Questions sent to the Tourism Minister by Times of Malta on Wednesday about the matter were not answered.

Although not appealing the decree, Dr Mizzi has argued before the Constitutional Court that any such inquiry breaches his right to a fair hearing. This was the second time he made such a submission. He had dropped the first claim after a request made in 2017 for an inquiry was successfully blocked by an appeal.