Joseph Muscat confirmed he had asked Cyrus Engerer not to attend a vigil held on the day Daphne Caruana Galizia was assassinated, saying the attendance of anyone associated with Labour could have been taken as provocation.
The former prime minister was speaking after former Labour MEP Cyrus Engerer said he and Randolph De Battista had attended the vigil even though the prime minister had told him not to go.
“Joseph Muscat told us that he believed we should not attend the vigil… Despite the advice, I felt it was my place to be there,” Engerer said.
Contacted for comment, Muscat confirmed that his advice was to refrain from doing anything that could have been taken the wrong way.
“October 16, 2017 was a tragic and very tense time for the country. The Opposition had immediately gone out saying it was a ‘political assassination’ and tensions were high. My concern was that, with all the good intentions in the world, the attendance of anyone associated to Labour could have been seen as a provocation,” Muscat said.
“Public order takes precedence over political stunts. So, my advice was to refrain from doing anything that could have been misinterpreted,” the former prime minister said.
A few days later, within the context of a calmer environment, a delegation from the Labour Party attended a well organised event condemning the murder, he said.
Engerer, who is a founding member of a new progressive party, similarly said that the reason Muscat had given was that the attendance of Labour activists at the vigil could have been taken as provocation. Still, Engerer said he felt duty bound to attend.
“I was very angry and shocked by what happened. The country needed unity and we needed to show that we would not tolerate any action like this in a democratic society”.
At the time, Engerer was an activist in the Labour Party but had not official role. De Battista was party CEO. Engerer was a Labour MEP between 2020 and 2024 before leaving the party.
He initially made the comments on the vigil during a taping of Jon Mallia’s discussion programme Il-Każin. The full episode will be published today but a short video with his comments were published yesterday.
Engerer also gave further details when approached for comment.