Updated 1.30pm

The Labour Party on Thursday slammed the PN for its "cruel and heartless politics" after former minister Carmelo Abela broke down in parliament while discussing anti-SLAPP legislation.

Abela was among government and Opposition MPs who on Wednesday participated in a debate on the PN's proposals to amend Malta's laws protecting journalists.

Anti-SLAPP provisions seek to protect journalists, media outlets, blogs and other publications from aggravating and costly lawsuits intended to silence reporters. 

Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was killed in 2017, was the subject of multiple such lawsuits.

The Opposition's proposed amendments sought to extend anti-SLAPP provisions to apply to domestic cases and increase penalties a court can impose on anyone who initiates a vexatious SLAPP suit. 

However, PL MPs shot down all of the Opposition's proposals, with the Institute of Journalists expressing "disgust" at the government's position.

In his address, an emotional Abela said that while journalists and public people of goodwill should be protected, so should politicians who are lied about.

He recounted what his family went through following allegations by former PN MP Jason Azzopardi.  

Azzopardi had claimed in a Facebook post in April 2021 that the former minister was linked to a failed armed robbery at HSBC Qormi in 2010. He alleged that Abela had received a €300,000 payment for his role in the plot.

Abela had “absolutely and categorically” denied any involvement in the robbery.

He filed proceedings against Azzopardi over the matter and eventually won the libel suit with the court awarding him €7,000 in damages.

On Wednesday, he recounted the ordeal he went through together with his family.

Abela said he fully understood the impact it had on his family when he returned home on the day of the court's decision and his relatives were beaming - a reflection of their trust in him.

In a statement on Thursday, the Labour Party claimed that Abela's "touching moment was met with laughter by Karol Aquilina, the de facto leader of the PN - a close acolyte of Azzopardi and one of the most prominent members of the PN's extremist faction".

The party said Azzopardi had lied about Abela and others.

"[Wednesday's] was another occasion that showed how the extremist faction has taken absolute control of the Nationalist Party," it said. 

PN condemns 'campaign of lies waged by PL against Karol Aquilina'

Reacting to Labour's claims, the PN condemned the "campaign of lies, vilification, and hatred that the PL and its exponents are carrying out" against shadow minister for justice Karol Aquilina.

"It is clear the aim of the PL’s campaign is to incite violence against Aquilina, putting him and his family in clear danger," the Opposition said in a statement

The PN said that last week prime minister Robert Abela went so far as to invite Aquilina to a fight when, in parliament, he repeatedly told him, “come outside, I’ll show you!”

"The PN recalls that, over the past few years, several individuals have been found guilty by the country’s courts of hate speech against Aquilina.

"What the PL is saying about Aquilina is a lie. His behaviour in parliament has been serious, dignified, and respectful, and at no point did he laugh or pass any remarks at the Honourable Carmelo Abela."

The party said this could be confirmed by the representatives of the Institute of Maltese Journalists, who were also present in the parliament’s strangers’ gallery.

"All this shows that the Labour Party has learned absolutely nothing from the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and continues to use the same disgraceful tactics against those who criticise it and expose its corruption."

The party added that Aquilina had already been the victim of "a frame-up orchestrated by the PL and its media, for which the PL has yet to apologise" when, in March 2019, they were sent packages containing drugs.

This case remains unsolved by the police to this day, despite a magisterial inquiry being conducted, PN added in the statement.