Doctors have expressed concern about the safety implications of drivers having obtained a licence following political meddling in the testing process. 

The worry, expressed by a group of doctors focused on road safety issues, comes after revelations by Times of Malta on Sunday into chat conversations involving then Transport Minister Ian Borg and other government officials with Transport Malta's director of licencing, Clint Mansueto. 

Mansueto received names of hundreds of driving test candidates along with requests to assist them. In some cases, the requests were explicitly for an expedited test date. In others, it was made clear that candidates would sit for their test without their instructor present or Mansueto was told that the candidate had repeatedly failed and needed "help". 

Doctors for Road Safety expressed alarm at the revelations, saying in a statement on Tuesday that "if these allegations are proven, then all such licenses must be reviewed in the interest of road safety."

The group also called for the necessary governance to be put in place to ensure that the issuance of a driving licence, which they described as an "important privilege", is issued according to transparent, objective and standardised criteria which can stand up to scrutiny.

Robert Abela's government has closed rank following the revelations, with the prime minister insisting Borg and others exposed in the chats "did nothing wrong". 

On Sunday, Abela said that his only regret was that some customer care officials "were not pushing enough". He emphasised that point when answering journalists' questions on Tuesday, saying the chats did not reveal anything criminal and that the backchannel methods exposed by Times of Malta were within the parameters of the law and part of Malta's political system.