Prime Minister Robert Abela has called for nonpartisan analysis of an inquiry into the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia which held the state responsible for her death.
“Lessons must be drawn and the reforms must continue with greater resolve,” he tweeted soon after publishing the 437-page report of the inquiry.
But the Opposititon leader Bernard Grech demanded accountability after the inquiry concluded that the state should shouder the responsible for the journalist's 2017 murder.
A culture of impunity was created from the highest echelons of power within Castille, it said.
In his first reaction, Abela said the report “merits mature analysis beyond partisan arguments”.
However PN leader Bernard Grech called on Abela to shoulder responsibility for a “culture of impunity”.
Sharing a photo of Abela with his predecessor, Joseph Muscat, Grech said the state inquiry was clear: “Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder was enabled by the collective inaction of Joseph Muscat’s Cabinet, many of whom still hold public office.”
Muscat had initially resisted calls for a probe, saying that the attorney general had advised against holding an inquiry during court proceedings against three men charged with the murder.
PN MP Karol Aquilina had earlier shared the same photo of the two Labour premiers with the word ‘guilty’ splashed in red across the picture.
Meanwhile, former Opposition leader Simon Busuttil called on both Abela and Muscat to shoulder political responsibility for their “fatal failure”.
PN MEP David Casa, went further, saying the Labour Party itself should shoulder responsibility for the murder.
“This is Joseph Muscat’s legacy. This is Robert Abela’s legacy. They not only commissioned her murder, they not only allowed them to murder her, but they also created the environment that allowed for her murder,” he said.
“Daphne, they killed you to shut you up. We promise you that we will not only keep your memory alive, but we will ensure that whatever you uncovered, or was going to uncover, will lead to justice.”
Human rights NGO aditus, which in 2017 was among those who had called for an inquiry into whether there had been adequate measures to protect Caruana Galizia and whether her murder could have been averted called for accountability.
Civil society NGO Repubblika also said "lessons must be drawn" from the report "so that no other journalist is dehumanised, attacked and killed for holding authority to account".