Former prime minister Joseph Muscat has declined to comment on his former right-hand man’s claim that the 2017 election date had been set well before his wife had been linked to offshore company Egrant. 

Keith Schembri testified on Monday that the 2017 election date had been established as early as March 2017.   

He was testifying before the public inquiry that is looking into whether the state bears any responsibility in the death of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. 

The June 2017 election was announced by Muscat in May, who had said he was going to the polls nine months early because of news reports that were destabilising the country. 

He was referring to reporting by Caruana Galizia that Muscat’s wife Michelle was the secret owner of mystery Panama company Egrant.  

Caruana Galizia had reported in April 2017 that the then-prime minister’s wife was the ultimate beneficial owner of the company, in claims that sent shockwaves throughout the country.  

Schembri's claim under oath that the election date had been established before that date appears to contradict testimony by Muscat, who two weeks prior told the same inquiry that he had called the election because the allegations had destabilised the country.

No comment from Muscat

Asked for his position on Schembri’s testimony, Muscat said he had nothing more to add to what he told the public inquiry when he himself had testified earlier this month.  

Muscat would also not comment on Schembri’s claims that he had informed the former prime minister that Yorgen Fenech was the secret owner of offshore company 17 Black.  

The company, set up in the United Arab Emirates, is viewed as one of the potential motives behind Caruana Galizia’s murder, for which Fenech stands accused along with three suspected triggermen.  

A joint investigation by Times of Malta and Reuters had found that Fenech owns the company.