Delia said he had no information in this regard and urged Thake to forward any information he might have to the police, while Fenech described the allegation as a “blatant lie” and “a cowardly and dishonest attempt to tarnish my reputation and good standing”.

Five months later, Fenech was arrested and charged with conspiring to assassinate journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and his friend Melvin Theuma was given a presidential pardon to reveal everything he knows about the case.

In court today, Theuma recounted how Fenech had told him he had offered the PN a sum of money to see that Casa was not re-elected because the MEP was hounding him over his ownership of his company 17 Black.

In a statement this evening, the PN categorically denied ever receiving any kind of offer or payment to undermine any of its candidates in an election.

Recounting his Xarabank intervention last year, Thake said it was his duty to expose the information while protecting his source and that it is now the PN leadership’s duty to investigate it internally and the police’s to investigate it on a criminal level.

The Nationalist MP also called for the immediate annulment of the government’s ElectroGas comments in light of Theuma’s statement today that Fenech had told him Caruana Galizia’s murder was the last thing he needed to close the power station chapter.

“What is stoping the government from annulling the ElectroGas contract and nationalising the power station if necessary? No businessman should be allowed to profit from corruption and it’s my view that Malta must give a very strong response to corruption. If it is found, and there are very strong indicators, that the ElectroGas deal was corrupt, then no businesses should be allowed to profit.”