Parliamentary Secretary Alex Muscat has withdrawn claims that opposition MP Karol Aquilina had instructing his brother to “threaten” government MPs during one of last December’s protests outside parliament.

On the day demonstrators had blocked access to the various exits of the building, keeping government MP’s locked inside for hours. 

Muscat retracted the allegation in the wake of a Speaker’s ruling which was requested by Aquilina who felt aggrieved by his remarks.

The parliamentary secretary had made this claim during a Public Accounts Committee meeting held on February 18. Aggrieved by this remark the PN MP had sought redress on the following day during a plenary sitting, but Muscat refused to retract. 

In his decision Speaker Anglu Farrugia noted that this “violent” demonstration breached the law which states that it was illegal to block access to MPs before and after sittings. 

Nonetheless, in the absence of evidence to substantiate his claim and in view of the fact that such remark did not constitute “political bickering”, the chair asked Muscat if he was retracting the comment. 

The parliamentary secretary said he had reached such conclusion on Aquilina, as he had seen the latter’s brother receiving instructions through an earpiece.

“Though I thought Aquilina was dishing out orders, I am giving him the benefit of the doubt in the wake of the fact that the PN MP denied doing such thing,” Muscat told the Speaker.