It was beyond belief how Prime Minister Joseph Muscat admitted to knowing many things in the Caruana Galizia murder case but had been holding back for two years, Opposition leader Adrian Delia said on Thursday.
“Instead of taking action, not least by sacking minister Konrad Mizzi and chief of staff Keith Schembri, he is now boasting about having been unable to speak," Dr Delia said.
"Why is the prime minister persisting in protecting those two and others, to the detriment of the country?
"He told us about what he cannot say, but he did not tell us what he could actually do – sack those who committed corruption and crime and continue to harm the country’s reputation.”
Speaking in a Net Television interview after a meeting of the PN parliamentary group, Dr Delia reiterated the PN’s call for the immediate dismissal of Dr Mizzi and Mr Schembri.
Dr Muscat’s admission about having known matters for the past two years showed how he should have sacked those two a long time ago, Dr Delia said. By not doing so, he had become an accomplice and put himself in the same position as the other two were.
The PN leader, who earlier today returned from a meeting of the congress of the European People's Party, said everyone abroad was incredulous that no one in Malta was admitting political responsibility and stepping down despite clear involvement in corruption.
He stood by the Opposition’s decision to walk out of parliament on Wednesday, saying that they had acted in that way in the face of the prime minister’s ‘arrogance’ in refusing to act against Schembri and Mizzi.
The PN, he said, would continued to represent the people in parliament, but would show that such behaviour is unacceptable and it would demand the truth.
It was not just Nationalists who were demanding action, but many Labourites too, he said. Labour followers were not happy with the way their party was being handled.
“We are not saying that we should overturn the electoral will of the people but the people deserve a clean government,” he said.
Dr Delia observed that according to Dr Muscat, it was not information from a middleman which led to Yorgen Fenech’s arrest on Wednesday.
How, therefore, did the arrest come about? Was it because the prime minister so decided, having known matters for two years?
The prime minister had said he had issued instructions to the police and the armed forces. He, therefore, was responsible for their actions, and inactions. He had to answer for the actions of those around him and why he personally did not act earlier, Dr Delia said.
His inaction had created a climate where corruption and money laundering had been given his blessing.
All this meant that the government, as currently led, lacked moral and political legitimacy.
The government could not be judged simply by the last electoral result, but also by what was right and wrong, he said.
Dr Delia reiterated the PN’s support for a second protest due to be held on Friday by civil society groups. The people’s anger over the current situation was justified, he said, although protest should be peaceful. Being silent in the face of corruption amounted to being an accomplice, he said.