Former Opposition leader Simon Busuttil protested on Monday that the Speaker of the House of Representatives had stopped two questions he had tabled in Parliament about accounts held by the prime minister's chief of staff Keith Schembri.

He said the Speaker, Anġlu Farrugia, had insisted the questions were not in the public interest.

Dr Busuttil, who is now the Opposition spokesman on good governance, told the House how he had asked whether Mr Schembri had a bank account in Dubai and whether he had a bank account at Pilatus Bank.

He insisted that the questions were in the public interest as Mr Schembri was the prime minister's chief of staff, and Malta was not (North Korean capital) Pyongyang.

He requested a ruling from the deputy speaker Claudette Buttiġieġ, since the issue involved the Speaker.

But Mr Speaker Farrugia said he would give the ruling himself, and Dr Busuttil, if he disagreed, could contest it in the usual manner.