MEP David Casa has secured a European Parliamentary debate on the state of the rule of law in Malta, six years after the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

The legislature will debate "the state of impunity on government corruption which continues to deepen the culture of impunity", identified by the independent public inquiry following the murder.

After the debate on Wednesday afternoon, the European Parliament will also adopt a resolution and make specific recommendations in reaction to the scandals exposed by Maltese journalists in the past weeks.

A few weeks ago, Times of Malta revealed a benefit fraud racket through which “hundreds” of people fraudulently received monthly disability benefits they were not entitled to.

And, more recently, it exposed details - and names - of people involved in a Transport Malta racket to help specific candidates obtain a driving licence. 

“We have a Prime Minister who has failed to act to root out corruption and now openly admitted his failure when he said that corruption is the way things work in Malta,” Casa charged.

“But this is not the way things should work in Malta. Certainly, not in my name,” he continued.

Casa recalled the recent revelations that were deliberately kept hidden by Prime Minister Robert Abela for two years until journalists finally exposed the story.

The scandals, he said, involved a concerted effort of fraud, forgery and corruption to award monthly disability benefits to people with no disabilities simply to buy their vote.

The same happened with the driving tests scandal, whereby licenses were given to those who would have otherwise failed their driving tests if they and their families were found to be sufficiently ardent Labour supporters.