Former President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca has endorsed Monday evening's vigil in memory of construction site victim Jean Paul Sofia.

The former Labour minister and general secretary of the party said that, "as true socialists" she and her husband, Edgar, believe that "we should always stand for workers’ rights and for those who are disadvantaged in society".

"We believe that we should raise our voices and stand up for what we believe is just and right, beyond any partisan consideration," she wrote in a Facebook post.

The vigil will be held on Castille Square, opposite the prime minister's office at 8pm.

It comes after Labour MPs led by Prime Minister Robert Abela defeated an opposition motion calling for an independent public inquiry into how a building under construction collapsed in Corradino last December, killing Sofia and injuring others. 

"Last week Edgar and I decided to sign the petition to our Parliament initiated by Jean Paul Sofia’s mother in the hope that our signature, together with that of thousands of others, would serve to prod our Parliament into approving the call for a Public Inquiry into Jean Paul’s death," Coleiro Preca continued.

"We did this because we believe that apart from establishing culpability through the magisterial inquiry, there should be a parallel investigation into the processes, methodology, skills, competence, and essential requirements of the construction industry to ensure its foundations are built on solid ground and not on the flimsy workmanship that robbed Jean Paul of his future."

Former President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca and her husband Edgar. File photo: Times of Malta

"Unfortunately, our plea for a public inquiry was not heeded by our parliament. What happened to Jean Paul Sofia, could have happened to my daughter or to anybody’s son. He cannot become just another statistic, to be added to the many who have been seriously injured or died needlessly due to the negligence of irresponsible people. Jean Paul’s death must be the turning point to instil accountability in the construction industry and ensure such a horrible death does not happen again," she added.

"This evening’s vigil is another call for our authorities to safeguard the future of our children and young people, and to drive the urgent changes necessary to protect all those working in high-risk industries."

Coleiro thanked Jean Paul’s mother for her courage and the admirable support of the father and their families for their relentless plight for effective and sustainable justice.

Jason Micallef sees ulterior motives by some quarters

Meanwhile, another former general secretary of the Labour Party, Jason Micallef, wrote on Facebook on Monday referring to the vigil as a protest.

The beauty of protests, he wrote, was that 'genuine' people from different walks of life could come together for a single purpose.

But, he said, there were other people who used any reason to protest against the government of the day. These were people whose only purpose was to grab power at any cost, including making use of other people's unfortunate human tragedies.

"Tonight, because of such people, I will not attend the protest," he wrote. 

Jean Paul Sofia's mother photographed outside parliament after government MPs defeated a vote on holding a public inquiry. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

He attached pictures of posts where NGOs Repubblika and Occupy Justice, as well as Repubblika chairman Robert Aquilina and the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation, urging people to attend the vigil.

Meanwhile, the GWU daily newspaper l-orizzont reported on the planned vigil on Monday under the headline 'This evening's vigil and speculation on who is promoting it'.

It said that on social media, many had condemned continuous attacks on the prime minister.

It claimed that political observers on the media alleged that the style and promotion of the vigil showed that there were organisations aligned to the PN which seemed to be intent on making political mileage from the sympathy for this case.

These observers, it said, alleged that the PN had chosen to make this a political football.

Jean Paul Sofia's mother, Isabelle Bonnici, on Sunday described efforts to link her to politics as insulting, adding that she had gone to the prime minister first with her plea for a public inquiry. 

She has also published photographs of her son attending Labour mass rallies, revealing he was a Labour supporter in order to demonstrate that her call for a public inquiry was not politically motivated.