Simon Busuttil has become a "millstone hung" around the Nationalist Party's neck, according to MEP Alfred Sant.

Dr Busuttil should have resigned immediately from parliament after the publication of Magistrate Aaron Bugeja’s conclusions on the Egrant allegations, but if the former opposition leader refuses to do so it will be in the interests of the Labour Party, the former prime minister said.

He weighed into the debate almost a week after PN leader Adrian Delia urged Dr Busuttil to resign from the party in the wake of the Egrant allegations. 

Read: PN calls emergency meeting, hours after Busuttil refuses to suspend himself

Taking part in the radio programme Sibt il-Punt, Dr Sant described the "definitive and clear inquiry" conclusions into the secret Panama company as a plus point for Malta and for the judiciary, which showed that the rule of law in Malta is transparent and effective.

Dr Sant reiterated that David Casa should also resign from the European Parliament since he took the personal initiative to use European Parliament funds to visit Maria Efimova in Greece. He referred to the former Pilatus Bank employee as the "Russian fraudster".

He also described Portughese MEP and vocal critic Ana Gomes as "excitable" and her antics as a "joke", claiming her Portuguese colleagues refer to her as a "fire cracker".

Dr Sant claimed there is an ongoing professional campaign against Malta in the European Parliament and said he had supported Joseph Muscat for calling a snap general election last year which unsettled the PN’s political strategy.