The Nationalist Party wondered yesterday if the government’s “weak link”, as it referred to finance minister Edward Scicluna, has been put under a media ban by his own government.

It said that for the second time in a matter of days the government yesterday chose again to hide Prof. Scicluna after he penned an article in the Times of Malta, instead of allowing him to answer journalists’ questions about the debt of almost €400 million which the Labour government ran up in 2013.

One week after the figure was released, showing the incompetence of the minister and the government in managing the country’s finances, Prof. Scicluna did not in his article say how he managed to run up almost €400 million in debt, and gave a completely different version to what Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had given, the PN said.

It noted that with the defence he presented yesterday, Prof. Scicluna was confirming and admitting that the debt in 2013 was of almost €400 million. While the Prime Minister had tried to shift blame for this on the previous administration, Prof. Scicluna is blaming the European Union for the 2013 debt.

The PN deplored the minister’s arrogance who in trying to shield himself from the legitimate questions he is being asked gave vent to an attack on the Opposition. Instead of doing this it would be better for the minister to clear the facts with the Prime Minister himself. This could be a good opportunity for Prof. Scicluna to show he is not the weak link of the government, as he has been described by a local newspaper, it added.