Sai Mizzi situation 'not well handled' - PM

The Prime Minister has admitted that appointing Sai Mizzi Liang, the Energy Minister’s wife, to be the government’s envoy for Asia could have been better handled. “I’m the first to admit we’re not perfect. But what is certain is that we now have the results in hand, I credit Sai Mizzi with the success of a substantial part of this visit,” he told The Sunday Times of Malta at the end of his six-day trip to China. Ms Mizzi Liang last week denied claims that she is paid €13,000 monthly. The controversy about her appointment and pay had raged for months. "We wanted to confront this issue when we had concrete results in hand, which we do now,” Dr Muscat said.He added that while Ms Mizzi Liang had agreed to provide her payslip, her allowances were those of any other ambassador. “The Opposition’s criticism that she was the minister’s wife is legitimate; it’s normal to question whether she got the job simply because she’s Konrad Mizzi’s wife. But for me that’s the issue, not her salary,” Dr Muscat added. More in The Sunday Times of Malta and the e-paper on timesofmalta.com Premium.