Former finance minister Tonio Fenech should assume the responsibility of what he had done in connection with the donation of a tal-lira clock to him, the Labour Party said in a statement, arguing also that the Nationalist Party also had questions which needed to be answered.

It was referring to testimony given in court yesterday, saying it was clear that the gift was given to Mr Fenech by Power Plan Ltd, run by the Farrugia family, which is being investigated in connection with the oil procurement scandal.

The Labour Party said Mr Fenech had claimed during the electoral campaign that the gift was nothing but a gesture of admiration by the wife of George Farrugia’s brother, but this was denied in court by Mrs Farrugia herself, who said she admires no one but her husband and children, and that she had built the clock at her husband’s request because he had been paid by Power Plan Ltd.

The PL argued this meant that Mr Fenech had lied during the electoral campaign when he said the clock had been a gift of admiration, and when he said it cost only a few hundred euros.

And from the testimony given it resulted also that apart from the clock Mr Fenech had been given, Power Plant Ltd had also paid for two other clocks which were given to the Nationalist Party.

Why had the PN hidden this during the campaign, the PL asked. Were the clocks still at the PN’s, it wondered. If someone from the PN has them, who has them? The PN needs to answer these questions, the PL said.