Updated 8.00 pm
Angelo Gafa's term as police commissioner has been renewed for another four years, the home affairs ministry said on Saturday.
Gafa was the first police chief not to be directly appointed by the prime minister when he assumed the role in 2020. He was made commissioner following an open call from the Public Service Commission.
This time around, Gafa only needed the approval of the Public Service Commission for his contract to be renewed.
In a statement, the home affairs ministry praised Gafa's first four years.
"In the last years and months, the police corps revamped its systems to become closer to citizens," the ministry said.
The ministry cited the introduction of community police, the victim support unit and the gender-based and domestic violence unit as examples of Gafa's work.
The ministry added that people trust the police: "Every public opinion survey in the last years, on a local and European level, always showed that the Maltese people trust the (police) corps and its officials."
The police has also improved its governance and managed to agree on a new collective agreement for its officers, the ministry said.
Gafa's renewal comes despite the Nationalist Party's opposition.
Opposition leader Bernard Grech said on Saturday that the country deserves a commissioner who does not favour anyone and not an official who believes he should defend the interests of the Labour Party.
In a Facebook post, Grech said the PN would keep insisting it needs a police commissioner who has support from two-thirds of parliament.
Robert Aquilina, of Repubblika, said a number of police officerstold him that Angelo Gafa does not represent the values of the police.
The officers who spoke to the rule of law NGO's honorary president consider the renewal of Gafa's contract as an insult to the police corps and the Maltese people, Aqulina said.
"Because of Angelo Gafa's leadership style, the police are demoralised and demotivated," Aquilina said.
Repubblika has been a constant critic of Gafa, even accusing the police chief of becoming the "biggest obstacle to justice".