Education Minister Evarist Bartolo said this morning that OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri and Minister Konrad Mizzi should choose to leave now to save the Labour Party and the people it was born to serve.

In his strongest Facebook post so far since the arrest of Yorgen Fenech in connection with the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, Bartolo said that the more a tree is strong the more it needs attention for it not to be allowed to die.

And if the Labour Party tree is allowed to die, who will suffer the most? Those who are living the good life? No, the people who suffer are the weakest and the voiceless, he wrote.

The tree is more important than any of its branches. Konrad Mizzi and keith Schembri should choose to leave for the benefit of the people for whom the Labour Party was created.

Before it is too late, the Labour Party then needs to take care of the tree for it not to be infected and die, Bartolo wrote.

In other posts on Facebook in the past days, Bartolo said that the country will be worse off if it protects murderers and money launderers and that the country needs to know all the facts related to the murder.

Bartolo's public declaration comes ahead of what should be a heated debate in the Labour Party parliamentary group meeting to be held this afternoon, where Labour MPs are expected to voice their concern on the escalating situation.

It is understood that, apart from Bartolo, other MPs would like the see the back of both Schembri and Mizzi who, in the past years, have been the focal point of all negative feedback that the government has received.

The Malta Tourism Authority's head of events Lionel Gerada, who openly supports Minister Mizzi, was quick to reply to defend him.

He criticised Bartolo for the "earring" issue - when all earrings were banned from schools before a u-turn was made to allow studs - and said nobody is totally clean, describing Bartolo as a traitor.