The Prime Minister just can’t seem to get it right with the whole Konrad Mizzi saga. Government MPs presented a united on Monday night in parliament to win a vote of no confidence against the government after a motion by the Nationalist Party.

Despite there having been some vociferous and not so vociferous criticism from within the Labour Party parliamentary group, including subtle, and not so subtle, calls for Dr Mizzi’s resignation, the whip was imposed firmly and all PL MPs voted against the motion.

This is, of course, understandable and caused some to ask why the PN did not present a motion calling for his resignation alone. In all probability, the PN believes that Dr Mizzi is their greatest asset and will give them enough ammunition to possibly win them the next election.

In stepped independent (former PL) MP Marlene Farrugia, who has presented a motion of no confidence against the Energy Minister over the company he owns in Panama. Questioned by this newspaper yesterday, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said that MPs are only given a free vote in parliament when the issue at stake is one of conscience. The Prime Minister effectively said that this is not a situation where an examination of conscience is needed and therefore, MPs will have to vote according to the party whip’s instructions.

We have to ask what realm of logic the Prime Minister is inhabiting to come up with such a statement. Of course this is a matter of conscience. It has become abundantly clear that a number of MPs feel that their conscience is not clean as a result of the unwavering support the Prime Minister has given to his most senior minister, who is also the deputy leader of the Labour Party.

It is that much of a matter of conscience, that MPs have said that first of all, they would “certainly” not open companies in Panama. Others said that Dr Mizzi should take heed of former Prime Minister Alfred Sant’s advice and resign. Others, in parliament, suggested that the Prime Minister needs to take “tough” decisions to avoid Malta’s reputation being sullied in the world’s media. We would have to say that if senior ministers have called for Dr Mizzi’s resignation, then this is very much a motion where all MPs should be given a free vote. We must also put this into the context of the fact  that other Ministers and Prime Ministers in European countries have resigned because of their holdings in Panama.

It is unlikely that any labour MPs will vote in favour of the motion of no confidence, given the statement made by Dr Muscat. However, the debate itself is another matter entirely. It is likely that many, even those who have been silent so far, might speak their mind during the debate. However it all pans out, this will cause more damage to the credibility of the Government, even if it wins the vote on Dr Farrugia’s motion.