The Nationalist Party has called for the immediate resignation of Justice Minister Edward Zammit Lewis after "colluding with criminals" and referring to labour voters as 'fools', the party said in a statement.

During a press conference, PN MP Karol Aquilina, candidate Peter Agius and PN political research president Martina Caruana said that recent revelations showed that Minister Edward Zammit Lewis was in "constant and continuous contact with Fenech, colluding on the labour party's PR strategy."

"The public inquiry showed that there are systematic problems in certain procedures by government" Agius said. He continued to say that there is an irony present in what the government says and what is does.

"Although the public inquiry states that political distance should be kept from those in power and those whose only aim is corruption, the government fails to act upon this".

Aquilina was next to speak and said that the recommendations highlighted in the public inquiry report have to be acted upon. "The recommendations are going to be put up for enactment after the summer parliamentary break", he said.

The first recommendation which Aquilina highlighted was creating a law which prohibiting abuse by any public office. "We cannot have ministers and other public officials defending known criminals", Aquilina said while hinting at Zammit Lewis's actions.

The second recommendation which the opposition looks to act on is creating a law against the obstruction of justice.

Other recommendations will also be discussed in parliament Aquilina said. These include "unexplained wealth orders" where the government would be given the power to seize assets if no explanation as to how they were bought could be given.

Caruana closed off the press conference by calling Prime Minister Robert Abela to act seriously and convene parliament as soon as possible.

"Minister Zammit Lewis is no longer credible as the justice minister and Malta does not afford to have a good governance minister who is dishing out prime examples on what good governance should not be", Caruana said.

When questioned on PN members who had also met with Fenech, Agius said that "one has to make the distinction between people who are in power and those who are not. Given that Zammit Lewis was in contact with Fenech after he was revealed as the 17 Black owner says everything."