Robert Abela said he is completely comfortable with the prospect of suspected gangster Christian Borg testifying in front of a parliamentary committee.

PN MP Karol Aquilina will call Borg and two prison inmates as witnesses when he faces parliament's privileges committee over comments he made about the prime minister’s “criminal associations”.

Last Thursday, Speaker Anglu Farrugia ruled that comments made by Aquilina merited enough prima facie evidence for the PN MP to appear before parliament’s privileges committee.

Aquilina had said Prime Minister Robert Abela was an “associate of/in business with criminals” ("sħab mal-kriminali").

Asked how he feels about Borg's appearance before the committee, the Prime Minister said Borg would "testify whatever he has to testify".

"I certainly have no feelings of discomfort about him testifying. But I would tell Karol Aquilina that he should be ashamed of the way he once again treated the Speaker yesterday [Tuesday]. His behaviour does not befit a member of parliament," Abela said.

The prime minister was referring to a rowdy exchange in parliament on Tuesday between Aqulina and Anglu Farrugia.

"Aquilina challenged the speaker to remove him from the House with the police. If he carries on with this attitude, it will be the people who kick him out," Abela said.

Aquilina's comments in parliament revolve around a controversial property deal between Abela and Borg in 2018.

The deal netted Abela €45,000 but the timeline of events raises suspicions over why he entered a contract to buy a green field only to transfer his stake in that contract to Borg, who faces a raft of criminal charges related to organised crime, including kidnapping, just a few months later.

Abela has refused to explain the timeline around the deal, dismissing the story as "spin". A lawyer by profession, the prime minister was providing legal advice to both Borg and the Planning Authority at the time.