Labour MP Rosianne Cutajar said on Tuesday morning she was being substituted as member of the Council of Europe in line with her own request.
Cutajar was taken off Malta's delegation to the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe on Monday.
She was due to answer breach of conduct accusations before the council's rules committee next month.
In a post on Facebook, Cutajar said that contrary to what had been reported “or spinned” in certain newspapers, she had not been dismissed from the council.
She said some months ago, well before the complaint against her had been moved, she had asked to be substituted. Now that a substitute was found, a motion that made her request official had been moved in parliament.
Cutajar said this did not mean that she would not be defending her name from the “allegations and doubts” being fed by“ (Nationalist MP) Jason Azzopardi and the PN’s friend in Europe”.
Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne announced in parliament that Cutajar is being replaced by Energy Minister Miriam Dalli.
The Opposition did not react when Fearne moved the motion, but MP Jason Azzopardi described Cutajar as a national embarrassment.
In a statement on Tuesday morning, the PN said Prime Minister Robert Abela kept Cutajar in the council’s parliamentary assembly in spite of her being investigated for breach of code of ethics.
However, now that the council's Rules Committee said it was to proceed against Cutajar next month, Abela opted to stop those procedures against Cutajar, protecting her from being condemned for her behaviour.
The unheralded changes to the delegation clearly showed that the step was taken not to protect Malta but to protect Cutajar from an investigation and a possible condemnation which would put a damper on her political career, the PN said.
“Yet again, Robert Abela acted for political convience instead of with conviction,” it added.
The PN said Abela has known about Cutajar’s investigation for months but it was only when the committee insisted that it would proceed with the hearing that he decided to take action.
Cutajar resigned as parliamentary secretary in February, pending the outcome of an investigation by the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life into her ethical conduct with Yorgen Fenech. Her resignation was made permanent after the investigation report was issued.