Updated 12pm with Minister Jose Herrera comments
Environment minister José Herrera is still considering whether to dismiss Guardian for Future Generations Maurice Mizzi, under fire for a series of anti-Muslim remarks.
Speaking to the Times of Malta, Dr Herrera said Mr Mizzi was a "good man" and deferred a decision on his future until next week.
Dr Herrera - who has dissociated himself from the remarks - summoned Mr Mizzi to a meeting on Monday to "clarify" an interview with The Sunday Times of Malta where he had said Muslims were "taking over" and that the country should stop all migrants from entering.
Human rights groups have condemned the comments as racist and called for Mr Mizzi's resignation.
Asked about Mr Mizzi's comments, Dr Herrera said he had known him for years and always knew him to be a good man. “I never heard him speak racially – in fact, he prioritises eliminating poverty, and I took this into consideration when I chose him for the role,” he said.
The environment minister nevertheless distanced himself from Mr Mizzi’s comments, insisting he was “not a racial person.”
“Everyone who knows me knows I am the opposite of a racist,” Dr Herrera said.
Dr Herrera, however, did not commit to whether he would keep Mr Mizzi in his role as Guardian, saying he was still monitoring the situation and considering his position.
“Those who express themselves then have to pay the price. I am considering what he said, I am monitoring the situation and will give my decision in due course,” he said.
The minister said that, during their meeting on Monday, Mr Mizzi told him he wanted to give the message that the country should “embrace and integrate the immigrants here” but that he had failed to communicate that effectively.
"It is true he expressed his worries about illegal immigration," Dr Herrera said, adding he was not comfortable with the comments.
During the interview, Mr Mizzi had actually dismissed the suggestion of better integration programmes, retorting: "Muslims don’t change. Go and live in these places where there’s this religion. They kill Catholics there."
Mizzi defends comments
In a statement issued on Tuesday, a spokeswoman said: "Chev. Maurice Mizzi regrets the fact that his personal statements may have been perceived or interpreted as potentially insensitive directly or indirectly to certain individuals of the community, his true arguments and views were made in the broader context of the right for every person to have a high degree of well-being."
The comments, the spokeswoman said, were made in his personal capacity and did not reflect the position of the Guardian for Future Generations commission, which he heads. Moreover, they were only a small part of a wide-ranging interview which also delved into infrastructure and social housing.
"Chev. Maurice Mizzi has always been at the forefront in supporting families and children coming from all walks of life including various nationalities and ethnic origins. Throughout his life, Chev. Mizzi has provided support, through the Spiru Mizzi Foundation without any sort of distinction with respect to race, religion or ethnicity."
In the Sunday Times interview, intended to discuss the Guardian's work promoting sustainable development in government policymaking, Mr Mizzi returned to the issue of migration unprompted multiple times.
"There are so many Muslims coming – they’re all having nine babies, next to our two – and they will take over eventually," he said.
His comments came just days after two men were charged with the murder of Ivorian migrant Lassana Cisse in what is alleged to have been a random, race-motivated attack, and as politicians and public figures warn of the dangers of xenophobic discourse in sowing the seeds of hatred.