Updated | PN claims Prime Minister could not afford his Dubai holiday

A seven-day holiday in Dubai is not affordable on the salary of a Maltese prime minister and Joseph Muscat should therefore publish receipts of his Easter holiday, the Nationalist Party said today.

In a statement refreshing its challenge to Muscat to publish the holiday receipts, the PN insisted that the Muscat family spent their holiday in “one of the most expensive hotels in Dubai”.

“The holiday lasted a week, raising questions on who paid for the holiday and how. It is well known that, on a Prime Minister’s salary, such hotels are not affordable,” the PN said.

However, the Labour Party dismissed the PN’s calls as a sign that Opposition leader Simon Busuttil has “hit rock bottom”.

“Busuttil wants to poke his nose into Muscat’s private vacation, when we now know that he had told [PN deputy leader] Mario de Marco not to resign, even though construction works on his house that took place when he was minister responsible for MEPA were in breach of the code of ethics.”

Muscat was reported to have spent his Easter break at the Hotel Atlantis, The Palms.

He has told reporters that he personally pays for his holidays.

Requests for the publication of the Dubai holiday receipts follow weeks of similar requests to the deputy leaders of the Nationalist Party, Mario de Marco and Beppe Fenech Adami.

Labour has insisted that Fenech Adami should publish invoices related to the construction of his Gharghur villa whilst De Marco should publish invoices of works carried out by RedMap Construction.

The PL argued that publishing the invoices would dispel allegations that the works were in fact “gifts”.

Using the same argument, the PN insisted that the holiday invoices should be published for transparency’s sake. “It is in the public interest to know how much the holiday cost and whether it was a gift. You need to earn much more than a prime minister’s salary to afford this hotel,” the PN reiterated.

In his declaration of assets filed this year, the Prime Minister declared €75,000 deposited in a Bank of Valletta account. In the income tax return, Muscat declared earning €52,024 as prime minister. This figure excludes allowances.