Tenacious Labour MP Marlene Farrugia will be fighting her own corner tonight on Xarabank, which will be discussing the controversial ‘University of the South’ development at Zonqor Point.

The Labour Party’s official representative on the programme will be MP Deborah Schembri, while the Nationalist Party will be sending Marthese Portelli.

Dr Farrugia and Dr Schembri already clashed in Parliament earlier this week during an environment committee meeting. 

Contacted by The Malta Independent, Dr Farrugia said she will be representing her constituents, environmental NGOs, and for all those who voted for the PL for the first time for its clear pro-environment electoral programme.

While saying she will not be representing the Labour Party, Dr Farrugia said she has been contacted by the PL’s spokesperson Nigel Vella and will be attending a preliminary meeting about the programme together with Dr Schembri.

“If they told me not to go, I would have gone anyway,” Dr Farrugia said.

Xarabank host Peppi Azzopardi confirmed that Dr Farrugia will be present on the programme, and said having two Labour MPs and one PN MP will not create a political imbalance on the programme.

He said Dr Farrugia’s opinion on the Zonqor point development clearly differs from that of the government.

A PN spokesperson said one has to look at the views being aired rather than which Party the guests will be representing.

When it was pointed out that just a few weeks ago the PN objected to the presence of two Labour-leaning guests on discussion programme Dissett, when only one PN representative was invited, the spokesperson said that and that particular case, there was a clear imbalance of views.

The spokesperson said Dr Farrugia will be given the opportunity to air her views, and opportunity which was denied on a recent PBS news bulletin.