Updated 2.05pm
Labour MEP Miriam Dalli on Saturday laid into her Nationalist Party counterparts Roberta Metsola and David Casa and accused them of being hypocrites when it came to rule of law issues.
Dalli said that while the two PN MEPs were happy to criticise Malta and vote in favour of European Parliament motions criticising it on rule of law issues, they had then backed the Bulgarian government when it faced similar EP criticism.
"Hypocrisy is unacceptable and if PN MEPs believe in democracy and rule of law, they should clearly show that they believe in these things everywhere and for all countries," Dalli said.
"So far we've seen them criticise and vote against Malta but then defend and vote in favour of countries backed by their own political grouping".
Dalli was referring to Metsola and Casa voting against EP resolutions meant to improve Bulgaria’s rule of law, in line with the EPP grouping they belong to.
Despite the votes, the resolutions were passed.
Metsola subsequently faced a torrent of abuse on Twitter from Bulgarians who accused her of siding with the Bulgarian government with her vote. The Bulgarian government has been facing protests over corruption for months.
A spokesman for Metsola argued that she opposed the resolutions as they were "rushed and premature".
On Saturday, Dalli also cited an instance in 2017 when Casa and Metsola had voted against sending an EU delegation to Hungary to investigate rule of law issues that were reported.
She challenged new PN leader Bernard Grech to confront his MEPs on this “double standard”.
Labour MP Ian Castaldi Paris, who sat alongside Dalli on Saturday, said that MEPs should stick up for their country, not for other countries which have committed breaches of human rights.
Both Dalli and Castaldi Paris said that the government was working hard to implement rule of law recommendations made by the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission.
'Labour defends Bulgarians and betrays Maltese' - Casa and Metsola
Metsola and Casa responded to Dalli's attack with a statement of their own later on Saturday, in which they defended their vote on the Bulgaria resolutions.
It was Labour MEPs, they said, who had betrayed their country by repeatedly voting in favour votes which helped Pilatus Bank, Keith Schembri, Konrad Mizzi, Peter Grech and Joseph Muscat.
"While they went against Maltese Gozitans in every vote they could, now they boast that they are, according to them, 'in favour of the Bulgarians'", the PN MEPs said.
They reiterated their stance that the resolutions presented to the European Parliament were rushed and contained errors and said they would be voting in favour of a rule of law mechanism applicable to all member states.