The Nationalist Party on Tuesday urged the prime minister to stop a campaign of hounding and intimidation against lawyer Jason Azzopardi by Labour pundit Karl Stagno Navarra.
The former One journalist has over the past days celebrated with a series of Facebook videos a decision by the authorities to remove reserved parking outside Azzopardi's residence. The reserved parking spot had been granted as a security measure and was revoked on Saturday.
Stagno Navarra said the authorities removed the reserved parking because “the only threat to Jason Azzopardi is Jason Azzopardi himself.”
He uploaded footage of a confrontation he had with Azzopardi outside his residence, where he asked him how he felt now that his parking privilege had been removed.
“Do you still feel arrogant?” Stango Navarra asked Azzopardi.
Azzopardi replied with a simple “yes” and crossed the road.
Abela should condemn intimidation: PN
In a statement on Tuesday, the Nationalist Party called on Prime Minister Robert Abela to stop and condemn actions of intimidation against Azzopardi.
“Prime Minister Robert Abela has a duty to publicly condemn the harassment being carried out by Labour activists,” it read.
"This act of aggression, which includes physical harassment and deliberate confrontations, is a direct result of the coordinated campaign of attacks carried out by Prime Minister Robert Abela and his clique. The direct aggression against Lawyer Azzopardi is not an isolated case.
"The culture of hatred that Robert Abela has fostered against those who disagree with him is leading to targeted attacks, endangering the safety of civilians and threatening democracy in our country. The harassment exposed in this latest case is part of a clear strategy of intimidation that has existed under this Government," the PN said.
It called on the police commissioner to ensure that Azzopardi is given the necessary protection against these attacks.
Rule-of-law NGO Repubblika slammed what it described as a campaign of hate and threats Azzopardi was facing from the Labour Party.
"We are worried about the danger they are putting him in," the group said.
Robert Aquilina, the former president of Repubblika, described the campaign against Azzopardi as "cruel, inhumane and hateful".
"The forces of law and order are not being serious about the obvious danger this is causing. We have learnt absolutely nothing from Daphne's murder," he wrote in a Facebook post.
"Now when something ugly happens, those who remained silent and those who are fomenting all this will attend a demonstration of national unity."
"Grow up": Stagno Navarra reacts to criticism
In comments to Malta Today, Azzopardi said Stagno Navarra “needs psychiatric help.”
Stagno Navarra reacted sharply to the PN statement and drew comparisons.
"So it's okay if we go after Robert Abela, and take pictures of him on his yacht?" he asked.
"What babies you are, just grow up!" he said on video.
Partit Malta Progressiva (PMP), a newly-created political party, said Malta deserved a democracy where ideas where discussed with mutual respect.
What was happening now should worry those who believed in democratic principles, PMP said.
Irrespective of political differences or Jason Azzopardi's methods, the systematic attacks against him are unacceptable," it said, noting that the prime minister had used his official platform to attack Azzopardi personally and was followed in a coordinated manner by Labour Party influencers.
"This is an attempt for a person to be silenced and destroyed," the party said, drawing parallels with what had been done to Daphne Caruana Galizia before she was assassinated.
Stagno Navarra's actions came as the government published a controversial bill to reform the way people can request magisterial inquiries. That followed a spate of requests for inquiries made by Azzopardi and which Abela described as abusive.