[WATCH] PM on chief of staff’s health: Schembri ‘alive and kicking’

PM on chief of staff's health: 'Keith Schembri is alive and kicking'

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has partially broken the silence on his chief of staff’s health, after a question was raised on the matter during the groundbreaking ceremony for currency printer Crane Currency.

Keith Schembri, Muscat’s right-hand man, has been out of the office for treatment to an ophthalmological illness, but the prime minister said that rumours that Schembri was terminal, were untrue.

“He is alive and kicking and will be back in his job very, very soon. He is undergoing some treatment but his health is not as has been reported by some sections of the media,” Muscat said, referring to posts carried on the personal blog of the Malta Independent columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia. "I am still waiting for an apology from that section of the media."

Schembri was the chief electoral strategist for Labour in 2013, and has since its election to power occupied the post of chief of staff.

He was credited with securing the Crane Currency investment coup, which will open a currency printing plant in Malta and employ 200. His name also surfaced in the Panama Papers, where it was revealed he had opened an offshore company, to which the Opposition responded by demanding his resignation.