Updated - Speaker rules PM could have made 'better choice of words' in exchange with Tonio Fenech

Updated 10.13 p.m. The Speaker of the House of Representatives this evening upheld a complaint by Nationalist MP Tonio Fenech following an exchange with the prime minister, saying that Dr Muscat could have made a better choice of words. Speaker Anglu Farrugia delivered his ruling two-and-a-half hours after the sitting was suspended, with Mr Fenech demanding a retraction or apology from Dr Muscat. The exchange took place when Dr Muscat referred to a meeting which Mr Fenech had had with a delegation from the International Monetary Fund, speaking of 'incitement' by the Nationalist MP Mr Fenech denied wrongdoing and demanded an apology. He  said that in terms of standing orders, no one could impute bad motives on an MP. He insisted that in a regular meeting with the IMF delegation, one of the sort frequently requested by the IMF, he had defended Malta's banking system and the financial situation, although he had said that the government did not seem as committed as before to rein in the deficit. He hoped, he said, that Malta was not returning to the Mintoff days where anyone who criticised the government was labelled a traitor. Dr Muscat stood his ground, saying the government knew...