The Nationalist Party said today that the Labour government is working together with Konrad Mizzi to prevent him from appearing in front of the Public Accounts Committee.

The party was reacting to a statement by Mizzi in which he said that he and his lawyer will be unable to attend any PAC meeting until 3 November.

This is the third time that Mizzi has avoided turning up before the committee to answer to questions related to the Electrogas contract.

A month ago the PAC called upon Mizzi to appear in front of them to answer questions on the Electrogas deal. “Mizzi is not only just a witness to the deal but he is the architect that made it all happen,” PN MP Beppe Fenech Adami said today.

“After a lot of pressure from the opposition side, Konrad Mizzi last week said that he was available to meet with the PAC whenever possible.” But now he is once again delaying the process.

On that day the opposition had presented a motion in parliament where through it, the government could have put it forward for a vote which would have resulted in Mizzi being forced to appear in front of the PAC.

The Labour government fell for Mizzi’s word and bluff. Therefore they did not move forward with the motion and Mizzi managed to squeeze out of the next couple of PAC meetings, Fenech Adami said.

Mizzi and the Labour government are in bed together working ways to avoid facing the PAC. “The Labour Party does not want Konrad Mizzi to appear in front of the PAC and is using all excuses possible to prevent him from appearing in front of the opposition to face the hundreds of questions the opposition has to ask."

Mizzi is no longer a PL MP, having been kiccked out of the party in June last year. But he has pledged his loyalty to the PL.

Fenech Adami stressed that this is all the government's doing as they did not want to vote on the motion and said that “the only question to ask at this point is why the Labour Party continues to protect Konrad Mizzi by not cooperating with the opposition. What does Konrad Mizzi know on the Labour Party which prohibits them taking action? What does he know on the PL MP’s to protect him?”

“It is evident that behind closed doors, the PL and Konrad Mizzi are working tirelessly together so the facts on the most corrupt deal ever conducted would never see the light of day,” Fenech Adami said.

Also addressing the press conference were PN MP’s Karol Aquilina and Ryan Callus who both stressed on the importance that Mizzi faces their questions in the PAC and put this issue to rest.

“The PL is clearly caught in a web of lies because of Mizzi and they are doing all they can in order not to get caught on their wrong doings,” Aquilina said.

Aquilina said that the ball is in the court of the government as the opposition have made themselves available for the PAC to meet at any day of the week even on Saturdays and Sundays.

“Personally I have over 150 questions for Konrad Mizzi and i’m sure my colleagues have the same if not more. These are questions which everyone is asking such as, what were the agreements between Konrad Mizzi and Joseph Muscat before the election of 2013 about the Electrogas project? How much money did Konrad Mizzi make out of the Electrogas deal? and so on,” Aquilina said.

Callus on the other hand stressed that if Mizzi appeared in front of the PAC and answered their questions, Prime Minister Robert Abela would be in great trouble because there would be a reason behind the spike in electricity bills.

“One has to keep in mind that Konrad Mizzi is not an isolated decision maker. All that we are seeing is part of a bigger web of decisions taken by the labour government in cahoots with corrupt individuals.”

Callus stressed that “we have a Prime Minister who is a hostage of corruption. He does not want the truth to come out and so prevents it. The problem is not only Mizzi but Abela as well as he had the chance to vote on forcing him to appear but he didn’t.”