Nationalist Party leader Simon Busuttil demanded that allegations made against him in a Labour Party press conference are withdrawn. If not, the Nationalist Party said in a statement, Dr Busuttil will be taking legal action.

Earlier today, Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis and MP Silvio Schembri said that Dr Busuttil, as head of the Malta-EU Information Centre, had awarded a consultancy contract to a company of which he was a director.

The information, they said, came from a reply to a parliamentary question. Such practice, they alleged, went against what Dr Busuttil was preaching today.

Dr Zammit Lewis said Dr Busuttil had employed 17 people on positions of trust and had himself been appointed without a public call.

Earlier

Speaking at the beginning of this evening's parliamentary sitting, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil drew the Speaker's attention to a reply to a PQ by MP Silvio Schembri given by Minister Helena Dalli.

In her reply, Minister Dalli gave a list of contracts that were given by the EU Information Centre, which he (Dr Busuttil) used to lead.

These contracts, however, Dr Busuttil, were given by the Foreign Ministry not by the Information Centre.

The Speaker said he would investigate.