PN MP Chris Said said the Opposition will be proposing a number of amendments to the party financing law at committee level.

Dr Said insisted that political parties should be made to list all public lands that they occupy.

These include properties owned by the state or requisitioned from private owners. He cited the example of Australia Hall, which is worth €10 million. He said the Labour Party also has a number of Party clubs on public land. He said the Rabat Labour club was meant to be a library, but was then given to the Party.

The MP said payments to the state for this properties should be listed, as well as all income from these lands, be they from bar rentals, restaurants, shops and any other income.

He said a yearly comparison should take place to see how much each party benefitted from occupying public land. The party benefiting the least should be compensated, he said.

If this is not done it will amount to political discrimination, which the Constitution does not allow, he said.

Dr Said said the Labour Party is earning “thousands if not millions of euro” from its occupation of public land. 

Dr Said said that the regulator of the party financing law should not be the electoral commissioner, who is a political appointee. Instead, the law should be regulated by the parliamentary standards commissioner.

Population should not be made to pay PN's debts - Farrugia

Labour MP Michael Farrugia retorted that the Maltese population should not be made to pay the PN's debts.

He said the Opposition cannot even take care of its own party, let alone run a country. Dr Farrugia said he prefers having an Opposition on sound financial footing, as this ultimately benefits democracy.