Updated | ‘Accusing me of political interference is false’ – PM

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has accused Opposition leader Simon Busuttil of a "knee-jerk reaction" with his motion requesting a review of the Speaker's ruling.

Muscat insisted that Busuttil's accusation of political interference in the John Dalli case "was a false statement".

"He made a false statement about me and I asked him to substantiate or else withdraw it. Busuttil says I should filed for libel... would he then have accused me of gagging his freedom of expression outside parliament as well?" Muscat said, adding that he a had a year's time during which he could file a libel.

He reiterated that Busuttil's "knee-jerk reaction" was bringing the Nationalist Party down.

Muscat said it was ironic that the PN was criticizing John Dalli's appointment as a consultant to Mater Dei Hospital, when the same PN had issued a statement congratulating him when the Police Commissioner said there was no case against Dalli.

"And for me this is a relevant point... a point which the PN likes to conveniently leave out. And you know what... I don't speak rubbish, I substantiate what I say," he said.

Muscat hit a sore point with the Opposition when he referred to a 1992 breach of privilege raised by then Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami over something which had happened outside parliament.

"Is Dr Busuttil saying that Fenech Adami had tried to gag freedom of expression as well? This is an Opposition that believes that whatever is done by the PN is ok, but what Labour does is wrong."

Defending the appointment of Sai Mizzi Liang, the energy minister's wife, Muscat said Simon Busuttil had been appointed - without a public call - to MIC.

"It had been a Cabinet decision, a direct appointment. And he was being paid Lm15,000... the double of what a Scale 1 government employee is paid."

The Prime Minister added that the difference between Labour and PN had been that when a Nationalist minister's son was directly appointed as a consultant, the then Labour Opposition said nothing because they knew he had been good for the job.

'Government lost the moral compass'

"Wake up and smell coffee. Wake up and retrieve the moral compass... the standards," Opposition leader Simon Busuttil told Joseph Muscat.

Starting off his speech showing "solidarity" with Teddy Pace - the suspended Gozo Channel manager, Busuttil said the government had used an employee as the sacrificial lamb to hide a minister's wrongdoing.

Busuttil insisted that the Opposition had every right to contest the ruling of the Speaker, insisting that he had substantiated his statement.

According to Busuttil the chain of events which ensued confirmed that there had been political interference. This was based on: John Rizzo saying he had wanted to arraign John Dalli; Dalli having been abroad and returned six days before the appointment of Peter Paul Zammit; the transfer of Police Inspector Angelo Gafa - who had been leading the police investigation into the Dalli case; and the disagreements which ensued between Zammit and Gafa.

Busuttil insisted that Muscat was taking people for a ride if he thought that Rizzo would have arraigned Dalli, knowing that six days later he would be replaced.

"Do you think that Rizzo could have arraigned Dalli in six days?" Busuttil said.

Defending himself from his direct appointment at MIC, Busuttil said that "Joseph Muscat could have never been chosen because back then he had been campaigning against EU accession".

He added that if the government thought there was nothing wrong with appointing a wife of a minister to a position of trust "then the Prime Minister has failed to get the point".
"It's not about giving a person a position of trust but it's about appointing a minister's wife to that post, giving her €3,000 every month. Shame on you."