Minister Justice and Culture, Owen Bonnici has reiterated his call on Jason Azzopardi to shoulder political responsibility for the Lowenbrau deal with Zaren Vassallo and resign.

Addressing a press conference, Dr Bonnici, accompanied by Ian Castaldi Paris, said that if Dr Azzopardi believes that what Zaren Vassallo said under oath is not true, he should file a libel case against him. The Minister said that Dr Azzopardi filed a libel case against him in a hurry when all he was doing was quoting from an affidavit.

Minister Owen Bonnici and PN MP Jason Azzopardi have been at logger heads in recent weeks for the Lowenbrau deal that the PN government allegedly made with Zaren Vassallo under Dr Azzopardi's watch.

"The story has now grown even further. I have presented my evidence black on white. All we expect is for Jason Azzopardi to shoulder political responsibility."

He said that Dr Azzopardi should come clean and state who was the Minister responsible in this particular case which saw Vassallo Group get a 21,000 metre square land for some €465,000, later valued at €8 million.

Ian Castaldi Paris said that Jason Azzopardi was responsible for lands and therefore should resign following these serious allegations. He said that the allegations revolve around the same people who preach so hard about good governance. 

Meanwhile, Jason Azzopardi has denied meeting with Mr Vassallo. In an interview he mentioned John Dalli, Minister of the Economy under the leadership of Eddie Fenech Adami in 1990, and said that he must face the consequences of his actions.

Owen Bonnici urges PN to come clean on Zaren Vassallo's loan.

Documents show PN paid back Zaren Vassallo in full for €250,000 loan

In a reaction, Jason Azzopardi has insisted that he never met Zaren Vassallo to speak about the land in question.  He said that this was confirmed by Mr Vassallo himself.

"The Labour Party has given up trying to clean itself from so many scandals so it's trying to throw mud at the Nationalist Party."

The PN said that Minister Owen Bonnici has been trying to convince the public of a lie. Azzopardi said Dr Bonnici will have to answer about this in court. "Repeating a lie will not make it truth."