Nationalist Party Leader Adrian Delia has asked his predecessor, Simon Busuttil, to suspend himself from the PN's parliamentary group, an instruction Busuttil has rejected.

The move comes after the publication of the Egrant inquiry conclusions, which have exonerated Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and his wife Michelle.

Addressing a press conference this afternoon, Delia said that in view of the fact that the PN had made the Egrant story an integral part of its election campaign he had asked Busuttil to suspend himself from the parliamentary group so that he (Busuttil) could focus more on the magisterial inquiries he had requested, so that the truth would come out.

Delia said he was also removing Busuttil from the post of shadow minister for good governance, with immediate effect. “No one is bigger than the party, the truth, the country,” Delia said.

The PN Leader said he accepted the inquiry report and has full faith in the magistrate.

He said the report exonerates the PM and his wife but not those around them, referring to Keith Schembri and Konrad Mizzi. “The PM knows that he has not yet shouldered the responsibility for this.”

Delia insisted that the full report has to be published.

When fielding questions, Delia emphasized that the focus should not be on Simon Busuttil or any other individual, but on the truth.

“We, the Maltese population, need to stop, once and for all, simply listening to what political figures are saying. The Maltese population deserves the truth.”

Asked if he would be taking similar action with regard to other PN MPs and MEPs, Delia stated that he will be getting in contact with MEP David Casa regarding these revelations.

Asked whether he would be taking action against Pierre Portelli, Delia said that the latter was not a member of the Nationalist Party when the stories were published,  so that was a completely different context.

The Labour Party said in a statement that it was satisfied that Delia had finally taken the right decision with regard to Simon Busuttil. It said that, one way or another, Busuttil must be removed as he “does not deserve” to be in Parliament.