Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said this evening that he learnt from the media that the police had concluded that there was no criminal case against John Dalli, and the government never interfered in the issue.

He was speaking before the parliamentary Privileges Committee at the start of proceedings against Opposition leader Simon Busuttil.

Dr Muscat started the proceedings after Dr Busuttil claimed the government had interfered in the police decision.

Dr Muscat said the leader of the opposition had failed to substantiate his allegation. The allegation, he said, meant that the Commissioner of Police was loyal to the prime minister and not the country.

He said that while the proceedings would bring no sanctions on the Leader of the Opposition, they would  set the record straight.

Dr Muscat said that he spoke to Mr Dalli and offered him the post of consultant in the health sector after the end of police investigations was reported in the media. He saw no reason to question the Police Commissioner on the issue.

He disputed Dr Busuttil’s argument that political interference was shown by the fact that the former police commissioner had been prepared to arraign Mr Dalli, while the new one said there was no case. Furthermore, Dr Muscat said, the redeployment of investigators involved in the Dalli case was also news to him from the media.

When repeatedly questioned if he had appointed Mr Dalli to his current position after accepting that this was ‘case closed’, Dr Muscat reiterated that this was not the issue. He said that he sought no information from the Commissioner of Police.

He said that at some point Mr Dalli had called him in the aftermath to his resignation from the European Commission. It was the Health Minister who had suggested that Mr Dalli be asked to help in the health sector.

The meeting was adjourned for the 19th February 2014.