[WATCH] PN non-committal on revisiting Electrogas audit in PAC

The Nationalist Party has not yet committed itself to revisiting the National Audit Office's Electrogas audit report in parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC). 

During a press conference on Monday, the PN's deputy leader David Agius said the party will first choose its parliamentary committee members before addressing such decisions. 

"In the coming days or hours the parliamentary group will announce the formations of the committees. These include the PAC and all parliamentary committees. From there, we will be able to take these decisions," he said.

PN MP Beppe Fenech Adami used to chair the PAC during its Electrogas inquiries, but Opposition leader Bernard Grech appointed parliamentary newcomer Darren Carabott to chair the committee in this new legislature.

When parliament dissolved before the election, the PAC had been questioning former minister Konrad Mizzi over his involvement in the multi-million euro Electrogas tender.

The PAC would frequently erupt into hysterics between Mizzi and the Nationalist MPs in the committee, with members going back and forth in lengthy tiffs. After a couple of sessions, Mizzi refused to answer any of the questions put to him by the committee members until the Speaker gave a ruling on procedures.

Electrogas had been one of the battlecries of the PN in the previous legislature. The tender itself was mired in controversy, with the government audit report flagging significant concerns over due diligence when awarding the contract. 

In 2018, it was then revealed that Electrogas shareholder Yorgen Fenech - now charged with masterminding Daphne Caruana Galizia's murder - was the man behind an offshore company that was going to pay millions to former chief of staff Keith Schembri and ex-minister Konrad Mizzi, casting further doubt over the contract's legitimacy.

However, it remains to be seen whether the PN's Electrogas efforts will be ditched completely in the new legislature, given Bernard Grech's zeal to change things.

Almost half of the PN's parliamentary group is made up of newcomers with several veteran MPs failing to make it to parliament, including anti-corruption campaigner and Caruana Galizia family lawyer Jason Azzopardi.

WATCH: PAC turns into show of hysterics as Mizzi defends Electrogas deal, mocks Fenech Adami ‘royal highness’