A few hundred people gathered in Valletta to demand the resignation of Minister Konrad Mizzi and the prime minister's chief of staff Keith Schembri after they were implied in the Panama scandal.

Michael Briguglio, co-founder of the Civil Society Network, which organised the event said the protest transcended politics. No speeches were made but the organisers encouraging protestors to take banners and flags to the protest.

Opposition leader Simon Busuttil and Alternattiva Demokratika chairman Arnold Cassola are among those taking part in the protest. At one point some protestors objected to a placard made by pressure group Graffitti which accused both the Nationalists and the Labourites of being corrupt when in government. 

"We are simply demanding what is normal and obvious in a democratic society: politicians and politically exposed people should not be associated with tax havens and dubious financial dealings,” the protest organisers said.

The network announced the protest last month in the wake of the Panama scandal. Following a Cabinet reshuffle last week in which Dr Mizzi lost the health and energy portfolios but remained in the Cabinet as minister without portfolio, the network said it was more pertinent than ever to hold such a protest.

A motion of no confidence in Dr Mizzi last Wednesday was defeated. 

Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi