Updated 5:55pm, adds Bernard Grech's response.
Health Minister Chris Fearne on Wednesday doubled down on the claim he had been asked for political favours in the roll-put of the COVID-19 vaccine, saying “more than one” Opposition MP had approached him to be bumped up the vaccine waiting list.
On Tuesday, Fearne made the claim that he had resisted attempts by several people, including a Nationalist MP, to be given the vaccine early.
The claim was roundly denied by the Opposition, following a meeting of the Nationalist Party’s parliamentary group.
On Wednesday, Opposition whip Robert Cutajar requested a ruling by Speaker Anġlu Farrugia on a potential violation of parliamentary privilege.
Responding to this request, Fearne said “the English say, when you are in a hole, stop digging”.
Fearne, who is also deputy prime minister, told the House that opposition MPs had better check their WhatsApp conversation with him, because he had been messaged by more than one MP from their benches asking to get the vaccine sooner.
One MP, he said, had the gall to send him a “gentle reminder”.
Another MP, he said, had asked for a family member and family friends to be bumped up the list.
It was at this point that Opposition MP Claudette Buttigieg took umbrage and asked Fearne whether he was referring to her.
Fearne said that while he knew she had inquired with him about vaccination for a child of hers who suffers from a health condition, he was not referring to her.
Buttigieg then burst into a fury, insisting that she had never asked for any favour and that the government MPs ought to be ashamed of themselves.
Furthermore, she said it was in fact her who had been offered favouritism but had refused it.
The Speaker will deliver his ruling on the matter in the coming days.
Opposition leader Bernard Grech later addressed the sitting and also asked the Speaker for a ruling.
He accused Fearne of taking a private conversation out of context insisting he had never told Fearne he knew of opposition MPs who had tried to get served ahead of the public.
On the contrary, Grech said, he had asked Fearne to let him know if there was any proof of this for him to take the necessary action.
Grech said he had also been informed by MP Buttigieg that she had been offered to skip the queue and had turned down the offer, reporting it directly to him as she suspected it was a political manoeuvre to entrap her.