The Home Affairs Minister must resign, and the government needs to answer questions about the theft of 200kg of drugs stored in a supposedly secure area managed by the Armed Forces, Repubblika said on Monday.

In a statement, the rule of law NGO said this was a very serious incident because the theft had taken place from a site supposedly guarded by the armed forces; involved drugs, and the drugs were meant to have been destroyed on court orders.

Details of the crime were given on Sunday by Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri, who immediately suspended the commander of the AFM and also offered his own resignation. It was refused by the prime minister. 

Repubblika said political responsibility needed to be borne over such a grave matter.

A serious, responsible minister would have stepped down even if he was not directly and personally involved.

"In the same way a minister basks in applause and congratulations for the successes achieved thanks to his subordinates, he should also bear responsibility for serious mistakes such as this. It is not right that the brigadier has been suspended but the minister is still there," the rule of law NGO said. 

It pointed out that Camilleri's ministry also had a long list of scandals, including the issues at Identità (Identity Malta) and the shocking Ombudsman report on the situation at the prisons.  

Repubblika also demanded government transparency about the drugs theft. 

"For how long had the drug consignment been awaiting destruction? Why wasn't it destroyed? Were there other drugs which were meant to have been destroyed but weren't? How much?

"We cannot continue to live in a country where impunity reigns," the rule of law NGO said.