Former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat conceded that he made a mistake in accepting Keith Schembri’s explanation for a company he opened in Panama, along with that of Konrad Mizzi.

“I can say that, in my eyes, I saw no wrong moves take place before me,” he said in an interview on TVM.

Keith Schembri is now under investigation over a kickback on the sale of Maltese passports by Nexia BT partner Brian Tonna.

“I’d want to know what that magisterial inquiry concluded: have they found corruption or not? It’s only then that I could tell you whether there is corruption. Did the inquiring magistrate find corruption or not? I think it’s in the national interest to know the conclusions.” 

Muscat also denied that he never witnessed any proof on the corruption allegations that were being made against his former chief of staff. 

“I have always rested on facts… What I know is that somebody sold Daphne Caruana Galizia a huge lie about my wife and myself, and it took a €1 million investigation all over the world to prove this was untrue,” he said.

He was referring to the Egrant inquiry, which did not find evidence that his wife Michelle owned secret Panama company Egrant. 

He denied having taken any money - “from nothing” - when queried about corruption allegations. “I learnt of Panama [Papers] from the media. It’s part of a series of inquiries, and I think people are owed an explanation of whether there is corruption or not.” 

In reference to the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia, Muscat said he was “the only prime minister in Malta’s history under whom a major crime has been solved.”

“I had absolutely nothing to do with the assassination,” he said later when asked.

Muscat said that it should be the mother who decides on what to do with a pregnancy. “I’m not in favour of abortion. But the more time passes, it cannot be me who decides for a woman. I agree that we need a discussion and I slant towards the right of women to choose.”