Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said today that it is the Opposition Leader who is in an absurd position, not him.
It was recently reported that, while currently the investigation into 17 Black is focused on the company itself and its ownership, it would eventually result in the alleged links to Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi and OPM Chief of Staff Keith Schembri being looked into.
Muscat was asked about this recent revelation.
Muscat said he looks forward to the conclusions of the inquiry and said that he will take action based on said conclusions.
In the same way, he said, "I cannot say if an investigation into the Fekruna case would go into PN MP Jason Azzopardi or not. I cannot say if the investigation into the London situation goes into the Opposition Leader or not as it is not my prerogative."
Asked whether his refusal to remove Mizzi and Schembri, even temporarily, has resulted in an absurd position where he has to defend the Leader of the Opposition and PN MPs, he said the PN Leader is the one in an absurd position, whose arguments have been brought into nothing 'while I have always remained consistent in what I said'.
He said that in the past he took action after the conclusion of investigations in the past. He said government always waited till the end of investigations. He also said that the Opposition Leader is in a problematic position as the arguments he made on other people he does not want to make them against himself.
The Times of Malta also recently reported that the London based prostitution racket, and the alleged involvement of Opposition Leader Adrian Delia, were part of an ongoing money laundering investigation by the police.
Muscat was also asked about the PN's statement following the Electrogas contracts findings by the National Audit Office, where Delia said that the public was being robbed of €200 million per year, and arguments that the Prime Minister said that this was €100 million.
Muscat said: "No, all I am saying is that the Opposition's argument is false, and that even if we were to accept the Opposition's argument, their calculations are wrong."
He was also asked to say where Neville Gafa works and what he was doing in Libya. Muscat said that "Gafa is not and was not a special envoy of government and was not representing me or the Office of The Prime Minister. He answered and I refer to answers by him."
The Malta Independent recently reported that, according to the Libyan government's communication office and the Libyan Interior Ministry, Gafà held diplomatic talks in Tripoli as 'a special envoy of Prime Minister Joseph Muscat'. This was also seen in pictures uploaded on various Libyan social media and newspaper websites.
The Prime Minister was also asked about Environment Minister's statement on the need for land reclamation. He was asked if there are projects in the pipeline.
Muscat said that Land Reclamation was part of the 2013 PL manifesto. He said that a number of calls were issued and government continued to study them. The main area where land reclamation could take place, he said, was near Bahar ic-Caghaq, however highlighted that there is a n issue due to the ecology of the Posidonia oceanica beds. "there are environmental issues, and we are looking for solutions.
He highlighted that Malta is running out of space in terms of where to dump construction waste. He said government is resisting dumping it in the sea.
He said that currently the dumping site has been being used since the time when Malta was under the English. "Its a spent ground and we are looking into the studies to see the situation of this site."
He said that despite the current construction projects, if the Malta - Gozo tunnel occurs, the amount of construction waste which will result from this is an enormous resource. He said that if they throw this waste into a quarry it will fill up immediately. He said they could throw it into the sea, and government is looking into identifying where. "But since we have such a resource, can we use it for land reclamation?" He said that studies are underway to give government a chance to issue a policy, on which there will be a public consultation."