Robert Abela is being held hostage by a fascist faction within the Labour Party, the PN said on Wednesday, adding that he is now riding along with it in a desperate attempt to divert attention away from the scandals and corruption plaguing his government.

On the very same day that Transparency International downgraded Malta by another ten places in the international corruption perception index, Abela, had shamelessly stood up in Parliament to attack the PN and its workers, it said.

He had repeated claims by Labour pundit Karl Stagno Navarra (about social security contributions of PN employees not being credited) and was now saying he wanted to launch an inquiry into the salaries and NI of the employees.

"The Nationalist Party reassures Abela and the Labour faction waging a crusade against the Dar Ċentrali workers that, as evidenced by the dozens of employees who worked with the PN and have since retired, none of them ever had any issues receiving their pensions," the PN said.

It also noted that once again, Abela had "repeated the falsehood" that the PN could not find an auditor to sign off its financial accounts. This, despite the fact that the PN had already clarified that all necessary work on its part were completed, and the accounts were submitted to the auditor for approval – something the auditor himself confirmed in a letter to the Electoral Commission.

"Robert Abela should instead explain why he continues to refuse to publish his declaration of assets, as well as those of his ministers and parliamentary secretaries for  2023, despite being reprimanded by the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life. Abela is exploiting and abusing his position to withhold crucial information that is necessary for him, his ministers, and his parliamentary secretaries to be held accountable and subject to public scrutiny," the PN said. 

"Only those who do not wish to fight corruption and abuse of power behave in this manner," it said.