A couple of days ago Prime Minister Robert Abela shamelessly declared that the public inquiry into the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia “should not be prolonged even further than it already has, as it will only cause more damage”.
The prime minister’s reaction reminded me of former British prime minister Harold Macmillan’s reaction when asked what he most feared: “Events, dear boy, events”.
The public inquiry is indeed proving to be an eventful one, with high-profile witnesses taking the stand before the three judges.
We have listened to witnesses explain how former prime minister Joseph Muscat’s closest aide tried associating Caruana Galizia’s murder with fuel smuggling by feeding the media with incorrect information despite being privy to investigations.
We have heard ministers Edward Scicluna and Evarist Bartolo describing Keith Schembri as the power behind the throne and finally owning up to the fact that he was allowed to lead a shadow government with the connivance of Muscat.
They are just another set of spineless, compromised self-serving politicians- Karol Aquilina
Owen Bonnici remained unapologetic about his orders for the daily dismantling of the memorial to Caruana Galizia, an act which our courts described as “surreal”, “divisive”, “borne of pique” and “absurd” and more importantly in breach of the fundamental right to freedom of expression.
We have had Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne complaining about the Panama Papers, the Vitals hospitals deal and letting us know that Muscat had made it clear that Schembri’s position was “not up for discussion”.
Just the sort of things that confirm that they are just another set of spineless, compromised, self-serving politicians.
We have had to listen in shock to former police commissioner Lawrence Cutajar and assistant commissioner Ian Abdilla describing their gross incompetence in dealing with the Panama Papers, 17 Black, Egrant and the damning FIAU reports.
And there is still so much we have to discover. Schembri, Konrad Mizzi, Muscat, Edward Zammit Lewis and Abela himself are yet to face the public inquiry.
But Abela thinks otherwise.
He wants to shut it down by December lest he has an eventful Christmas.
This is not the first time that Abela has expressed uneasiness with the establishment of a public inquiry into the assassination of Caruana Galizia.
When the opposition filed two parliamentary motions about the matter, one in October 2017 and a second one in October 2018, Labour MPs used every trick in the book to ensure the motions were defeated.
They brazenly argued that the setting up of a public inquiry would hinder ongoing police investigations, set out on an exercise in flawed self-praise and ended up voting against both motions.
In parliament, Abela, then a Labour backbencher and consultant to Muscat, described the call for a public inquiry as “negative” and accused the opposition of wanting to let the three accused go scot free.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
The terms of reference of the public inquiry make it very clear that the time frame of nine months should in no way be a detriment to the proper fulfilment of the duties assigned to the three-person panel.
It follows that the time frame within which the public inquiry is to be concluded is not subject to the prerogative of the prime minister but falls exclusively in the remit of the three esteemed judges.
Prime minister, hands off the public inquiry.
Karol Aquilina is Nationalist Party spokesperson on good governance.