Opposition leader Bernard Grech has called for an urgent debate in parliament after complaints by the Ombudsman that remarks by the head of the civil service constituted a frontal attack on the institution

The call was made in a letter to the prime minister.

The Ombudsman, in a letter to the Speaker and MPs issued on Monday, said that remarks by principal permanent secretary Mario Cutajar in the introduction to a report last month were an attempt to undermine the authority of the Office of the Ombudsman.

Grech said Cutajar's remarks were at attack on an institution of parliament. The institution should be defended by both sides of the House since the Ombudsman had a crucial role in the democratic governance of the country.  

Grech also pointed out that although he had suggested several people to succeed the current Ombudsman, whose term expired last March, but there was no agreement between the government and the Opposition to date.