Prime Minister Joseph Muscat this evening insisted that neither he, nor any member of his family has a secret account or company abroad.

Dr Muscat was speaking during the opening of the PL Annual General Conference, which lasts until Sunday.

The PM was reacting to recent reports by blogger and journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who claims to know who the owner of the third Panamanian company – Egrant – is.  “I admit that I made a mistake when I let people make up claims about me and I failed to quash those rumours. I will not repeat that mistake. There are now rumours that my wife or some relatives of mine are the owners of that company. I will make it clear: I, my wife, my children and my family do not have any company, account or anything else that is not declared or that is not in this country.”

Turning to speculation about the date of the general election, Dr Muscat appealed for calm and serenity. “This should be a clash of political ideas and nothing else. There has to be a line of decency that we, as a party, will not cross.”

Dr Muscat said he was disappointed by the use, by one of the PN’s organs, of a picture of his wife and children in its attempt to convey a political message. Whilst acknowledging that his wife was in the public eye, his children were not. “I appeal to the Opposition Leader; let’s keep it decent.”

The PM said the PL would always do things with decency. “I will never let people I have control of to attack the Opposition leader’s family.” 

In the meantime, the PL announced that it has amended its statute to be in line with the party financing law. The amendments were unanimously approved this evening. This means that the PL can finally register as a political party with the Electoral Commission.