Prime Minister Robert Abela on Sunday said he is looking forward to receiving a public inquiry's final report into the State’s role in the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia, saying he had nothing to fear.
Speaking during a political gathering in Xewkija, Gozo, Abela said the 2017 murder of the journalist had inflicted deep wounds on the country, which he wanted to see healed as soon as possible.
Abela said that he had nothing to fear from the inquiry, which is tasked with looking into whether the State had directly or indirectly failed to prevent Caruana Galizia’s death.
The inquiry has heard more than 100 witnesses, largely from the previous Labour administration that was in office when Caruana Galizia was murdered using a car bomb outside her Bidnija home.
Abela said he was certain that whatever the inquiry concluded about his predecessor Joseph Muscat, it would be clear that his own 2020 administration had made strides forward.
He also said he is committed to protecting the public inquiry from attacks by those who want to undermine it. He did not elaborate any further on this remark.
The prime minister added that he hoped the inquiry would finalise its work with expediency.
The inquiry was originally meant to be concluded in September, but the prime minister had granted it a one-time extension which expired last week.
Despite this deadline, the three judges presiding over the inquiry said they needed more time to conclude their work and planned to hear more testimony and would go on until at least mid-January.
Last week, the government issued a terse statement saying the inquiry board would have to shoulder the responsibility of its decisions, given that it had unilaterally decided on the extent and duration of its remit.
Vaccine arrives December 26
Meanwhile, Abela also announced that the first batches of an initial COVID-19 vaccine, which is slated for EU emergency authorisation this week, is expected to arrive in Malta on Boxing Day, next Saturday.
Inoculation will start on December 27, with healthcare workers and elderly home residents among the first to receive the vaccine.
Abela however, again cautioned that the long-awaited arrival of the vaccine would not mean that life will immediately go back to normal. Health precautions will still have to be followed, and Abela urged against reckless behaviour that could end up putting pressure on the healthcare system.
Abela said Malta had become “the best in Europe” when it came to mitigating the health impact of the pandemic, but this could soon change if the public did not continue to cooperate.
He also said that while other countries across Europe were considering austerity measures, the Maltese government had just rolled out €40 million to help local businesses.
Next month, he said, the government will be giving citizens around €50 million to be pumped back into the economy through the roll-out of a second run of €100 vouchers to spend at local businesses.