The government celebrating the National Audit Office (NAO) report on the power station as a "certificate of best practice" is them giving a guarantee that it will go on with corrupt practices, Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia said on Sunday.

The report published by the NAO found various shortcomings in due diligence with regards to the selection process that saw Electrogas win the contract to build the new power station, that the energy purchased through the interconnector was cheaper, and that the departure of Gasol plc was in breach of the contractual obligations in force at the time.

Speaking during a Net FM phone interview, Delia said that "It is strange and ugly to say that World Anti-Corruption Day is increasingly becoming Malta Day, when the government says it is happy with the NAO report on Electrogas it is a guarantee that it will continue to do the same".

He noted that unless an individual has the "blessing" of the minister or his accountant, then you live as a second-class citizen.

"Corruption is costing the country and money made from it is going to some people and not others."

Moving onto the debate held in parliament on Thursday on a motion seeking a public inquiry in the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, Delia insisted that "when a journalist is murdered, her murder is an attack on the media and on allowing people to speak their mind".

He maintained that the inquiry was required to establish if Daphne's murder could have been avoided and to safeguard freedom of expression.