Updated 6.50pm

Prime Minister Robert Abela and PN leader Bernard Grech dropped pleasantries and clashed at their first meeting on Tuesday. 

The two met at the prime minister's office in parliament shortly after Grech was sworn in as an MP.

As he promised on Monday, Grech called for an inquiry into alleged corruption into the Electrogas power station deal. He also reiterated his call for a national conference on migration.

Abela brushed off both requests - as he also did on Monday. He challenged Grech to go to the police if he had any evidence of corruption or else go to a magistrate to seek an inquiry.

On migration, Abela said that a conference would solve nothing. He also accused Grech of hindering government's diplomatic efforts through his comments that Malta was "not full up".

The meeting continued behind closed doors. 

Grech: 'Migration conference necessary'

Speaking to the media after the meeting, Grech insisted that a probe into the Electrogas deal was necessary, given shortcomings identified by the attorney general, and said that his call for a conference on migration was to discuss all migration to Malta, including the roughly 80,000 foreign workers brought to Malta under Labour. 

"Nobody knows their exact whereabouts and the impact on society and the economy in general,” he said. 

“A national conference would delve into the issues and come up with recommendations, and it seems the prime minister has not understood my suggestion,” he remarked.

Asked about the fact that the meeting was anything but cordial, Grech said that his style, "unlike the prime minister", was to remain calm and composed.

Grech added that he had accepted Abela’s request to visit Labour headquarters in Ħamrun, on the condition that certain issues would be debated. He however  said he would not meet the prime minister at Castille, given Abela's "cynical remark" that Grech would only step inside the Office of the Prime Minister if he won the general election. 

Abela: 'Things still the same with PN'

Abela, meanwhile, criticised Grech over his approach, saying the PN’s overall attitude remained negative despite it getting a new leader. Instead of debating measures on how to move the country forward, the new PN leader went back to issues like corruption and inquiries. 

“The more things change within the PN, the more everything remains the same,” he remarked.

Asked if he felt more at ease holding talks with Grech's predecessor Adrian Delia, the prime minister vehemently denied speculation that there had been secret meetings.  

“I met him on sporadic occasions and we only debated items of national interest,” Abela said.

He recalled that his last meeting with Delia was unexpected, as the former PN leader had turned up at Castille without warning to hand him a letter seeking to have a hospitals privatisation deal rescinded. 

“It makes no difference to me who is the Opposition leader,” he said, "my concern is to do good for Maltese and Gozitan people".