Speaker Anġlu Farrugia on Thursday said he stood by his testimony given to a public inquiry this week that construction lobbyist Sandro Chetcuti had office space on the fourth floor of labour Party headquarters ahead of the 2013 election.

When asked for a reaction to Mr Chetcuti’s denial, Dr Farrugia said Mr Chetcuti was a regular at the Labour headquarters prior to the election and also became a permanent fixture.

“I told the inquiry that after I resigned I was told that Sandro Chetcuti had an office at Labour headquarters.

“The fourth floor is very large and there are various offices that can be used for the meetings he was organising.

“Sandro was a regular at the headquarters and his affidavit confirms that he organised meetings for [Prime Minister] Joseph Muscat with business moguls. He was there frequently and almost became a permanent fixture.”

He was there frequently and almost became a permanent fixture

Dr Farrugia testified in the public inquiry into Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination on Tuesday, describing his difficulty working with Dr Muscat and his style of leadership.

He testified that he was uncomfortable with the people Dr Muscat’s PL was getting involved with and said he was “never a fan” of Dr Muscat or his “Labour movement”.

He said he did not even have access to the headquarters’ fourth floor, where these meetings were held.

Dr Farrugia, who now serves as Speaker, declined to name any other names despite being pressed to do so by the three-person inquiry.

He had resigned as deputy Labour leader and then had given an interview to Times of Malta in which he said he felt as if Dr Muscat had “stabbed him in the back”. In the same interview, he had expressed reservations about how big contractors and businessmen were getting too close to the Labour Party.

Dr Farrugia also told the inquiry that he was never Dr Muscat’s fan: “I never supported [Dr] Muscat. I was not familiar with his style” Dr Farrugia said.