Under pressure minister Edward Zammit Lewis said Saturday evening that a leaflet that is bearing his signature and is being distributed to voters on the eighth electoral district is not his.

Neither is it being sent by his canvassers, he said in a Facebook post.

The minister did not say what the leaflet contains. A copy obtained by The Malta Independent (see below) shows that the minister is "addressing" the voters as "gahan", th term he used to describe them as fools in his text exchanges with Yorgen Fenech, the man who is accused of being a mastermind in the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia. The letter goes on to speak about a "grey listing that means nothing" and Joseph Muscat "who paid a political price" for everything but is "now travelling round the world", among other things.

Zammit Lewis said the leaflet appears to be a part of an organised campaign to “politically assassinate” him.

He said this campaign has been going on for weeks and is leading to so much hardship “for me and my family”.

Zammit Lewis said he had remained silent but this has “exceeded the limits of political decency”.

He apologised to all Labour supporters “whom I might have hurt with comments taken out of context”, promising to remain of service to the voters and the Labour Party.

Zammit Lewis has been under fire after reports showed that he was in contact with Yorgen Fenech after it had been revealed that Fenech was the owner of 17 Black, a company that was a target client for the Panama companies opened by former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri and former minister Konrad Mizzi.

In one of the text messages exchanged, Zammit Lewis referred to Labour voters as fools (Gahan) and his fellow ministers as “children and poses” (tfal u pozi).

The Opposition has filed a motion of no confidence in the minister while calling for his resignation or removal.

Zammit Lewis said he will not resign.