Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne on Wednesday stood by his claim that a PN MP had asked him to skip the Covid-19 vaccine queue.

Fearne first made the claim on Tuesday but, on Wednesday morning, the PN’s Parliamentary Group unanimously denied the allegation.

PN Whip Robert Cutajar later asked the Speaker to deliver a ruling, saying Fearne’s claims amounted to a breach of privilege. He also asked Fearne to retract his statement.

But Fearne insisted that what he said was true, and invited all PN MPs to check their Whatsapp chats so that they could remember the messages they had sent him.

At this point, PN MP Claudette Buttigieg asked Fearne whether he was referring to her.

Fearne said he was not, adding that the MP had asked him to take the vaccine since her daughter is a vulnerable person.

An enraged Buttigigieg, however, insisted that this was not true. “I did not ask to be given the vaccine – neither for myself nor for my daughter.” The MP said her daughter was entitled for the vaccine and took it on Saturday. “On the other hand, someone had the fall to offer me to take the vaccine but I refused it.”

Buttigieg said she would not allow anyone to drag her name through the mud.

Fearne insisted that he had been referring to another MP.  

Later during the sitting, Opposition Leader Bernard Grech requested the Speaker’s protection, saying that Fearne had told Parliament about a private conversation they had had on Tuesday. Grech said that Buttigieg had immediately informed him that she had been approached with an offer to take the vaccine.

He also said that Fearne has now given him the names of two PN MPs who supposedly asked to jump the queue. The PN Leader said he will be speaking to these MPs, despite the fact that the entire Parliamentary Group has denied the claim.