Updated at 5.51pm with Speaker's ruling

A request by Opposition leader Adrian Delia for an urgent parliamentary debate into events surrounding outgoing Labour deputy leader Chris Cardona and former police commissioner Lawrence Cutajar was rejected by the Speaker on Tuesday.

Delia’s call, made after parliament's question time, had raised objections from the government’s side, which insisted that debating the issue might derail police investigations into the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Following an hour-long suspension to consider Delia's request, Speaker Anġlu Farrugia delivered his ruling in which he rejected the proposal. 

The refusal was based on the same lines of a similar request which the Chair had turned down last November at the height of the political crisis which had triggered a spate of resignations, most notably that of Joseph Muscat as prime minister.

Back then, the Speaker had rejected the request on various counts, including the possibility of jeopardising the case and possibly the rights of the suspects involved. Moreover, the Speaker had noted that events were happening so fast that the debate might be of little use as it would become obsolete.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Robert Abela said he was expecteing Cardona to tender his resignation as Labour deputy leader, while on Monday evening a court ordered that Cutajar, who until January was police commissioner, be placed under formal investigation. 

Both men have been named in testimony given in court in the Caruana Galizia murder case. 

'Has Chris Cardona made conditions to resign?'

Speaking on Tuesday, Delia backed his call for an urgent debate on the grounds of what he described as the “precarious state” of the police force.

Police were not instilling public confidence that justice would be done, he said. 

“There is no comfort that others who are still roaming free might not jeopardise the investigation.  We have a government which only acts when it finds itself with its back against the wall.

"If we do not hold this urgent debate immediately, there might be irreparable consequences for justice,” he warned.

He also asked whether Cardona had set any conditions to resign, given that until a few days ago he had made it clear he had no intention of stepping down.

'Time for investigations over, time to prosecute'

Prime Minister Robert Abela argued that it would be a mistake to hold the debate, as it could derail investigations.

“I do not want to only talk about investigations. If there are grounds for prosecution, this must happen and the courts will pass judgement,” he said.

“Turning the House into a police investigation or a court would be a huge disservice,” he added.

Abela also criticised the Opposition for its decision to boycott the grilling of Angelo Gafa' as Malta's next police commissioner.

“You have the best opportunity to grill him in the coming days and ask all pertinent questions on how he will tackle this case and that, concerning his predecessor(Cutajar), but you are refusing to do so,” he said.

Home Affairs Minister insists he knew nothing

The matter was also raised during question time by various Opposition MPs, including Delia.

Replying, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri insisted he had not been aware of recent revelations concerning Cutajar. Nor had he been briefed about them before he had made him a public events consultant last January, he said.

Cutajar met with a close associate of murder middleman Melvin Theuma, without the knowledge of police investigators. He insists he did so in an attempt to secure recordings Theuma had made concerning the case. 

The minister insisted he took action “within minutes” of the testimony emerging from court, first by suspending Cutajar's consultancy and then by terminating his contract when Cutajar was placed under investigation by a magistrate.

During heated exchanges, Delia interjected by saying that by the minister’s own yardstick, the former commissioner should have been sacked and never given another role as “Cutajar had done nothing” on various investigations.

In his reply, the minister said he never interfered in police investigations while taking a dig at Delia over allegations which had been levelled by journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia linking him to a prostitution circle in Soho.

“I could also have asked the commissioner to look into the Soho case, but refrained from doing so as I do not interfere in police work,” he said.

Delia interjected saying the government was the one which had refused an Opposition motion for an investigation into all claims made by Caruana Galizia.