The Labour Party is "torn" on whether it should protect the unborn child, Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia said on Saturday.

Dr Delia was speaking in light of a proposed Child Protection Act that was recently discussed in Parliament.

The Opposition has argued that the word "foetus" should be included in the proposed bill, along the definition of "minor". 

"The youngest of minors are not included," Dr Delia said, saying the two parties had ended up clashing over this issues because the Labour Party did not want to protect the unborn child. 

"It is a matter of principle," he said. "Do we want to protect life or the unborn child or not?" 

Rent law reservations

Speaking during a short interview on Net FM, Dr Delia said the Nationalist Party had some reservations about a revised rent law presented by the government.

The rent law "will not solve all problems" and will be putting pressure on the private sector, Dr Delia said.  

The government should instead see what it can do to help those most in need, he said. 

Dr Delia said the PN had voted in favour of the proposed law during its second reading, on the condition that it was tweaked and discussed further at committee stage. 

The rent bill had been described as a step forward by NGOs, although they still warned that the issue of exorbitant prices still needed to be addressed.

Inquiry into Daphne Caruana Galizia's murder

The government was only holding a public inquiry into the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia following numerous reports and recommendations, Dr Delia said.

This is symptomatic of wrong-doing: doing something wrong and only backtracking after pressure, he said.

Foreign Minister Carmelo Abela has said that the government will be abiding by a three-month timeframe set by the Council of Europe to begin a public inquiry into Ms Caruana Galizia's murder. 

The Office of the Prime Minister has declined to elaborate, saying only that Dr Abela's position was that expressed by the Prime Minister last month. 

Dr Delia said the Opposition would be insisting the inquiry would be autonomous and led by people of integrity. 

Fortina land deal

Dr Delia said that as usual, the Opposition had to beg for information on a proposed deal to allow Fortina Hotel owners to use part of the site for a mixed-development project.

The plans by were discussed recently during a session of parliament's National Audit Office Accounts committee.

"We want to be clear- we will continue to oppose this project and see if it is being used for land speculation," Dr Delia said. 

The government was not offering information, he said. Just like the controversial Corinthia land deal had been proposed just before Parliament's Christmas break, the Fortina land deal came to light right before summer recess, he said.