Labour MP Manuel Mallia has urged colleagues to use Friday's mini-EU summit to lobby against the Council of Europe report on the rule of law in Malta.
The former national security minister, who heads the Maltese delegation to the Council of Europe, made the appeal yesterday in a WhatsApp message to MPs who sit on the delegation. They are Labour MPs Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi, Etienne Grech and Rosianne Cutajar and Nationalist MPs Carm Mifsud Bonnici and Jason Azzopardi.
“Mini summit tomorrow between six countries is fertile ground for lobbying against Omzigt’s report. Anyone taking the lead?”, Dr Mallia wrote.
A two-hour mini-summit meeting is being held in Malta on Friday, aimed at regrouping leaders of southern member states in preparation for talks in Brussels next week. The leaders of France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece and Cyprus are attending the Malta meeting.
None of the delegation members had replied to Dr Mallia by the time the message was viewed by Times of Malta.
I shall keep working against misinformation spread about my country
Last month, Dr Mallia presented over 40 amendments to the report drawn up by Council of Europe rapporteur Pieter Omtzigt, a Dutch MP. He had sought to delete critical passages referring to the government and watering down references to the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, Keith Schembri, and Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi.
The draft report, approved in committee last month, stuck to the conclusion that Malta’s rule of law is seriously undermined by the “extreme weakness” of its system of checks and balances. It points out that top officials like Mr Schembri and Dr Mizzi enjoy impunity under Prime Minister’s Joseph Muscat’s personal protection.
Dr Mallia had last year requested the withdrawal of the mandate to Mr Omtzigt as Council of Europe rapporteur monitoring investigations into Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder. The request was rejected.
Asked why he felt the need to ask his colleagues to “lobby against” the report and whether he had discussed the matter with the Prime Minister, Dr Mallia said: “As a member of Parliament and as head of the Maltese delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, I am in duty bound to work in the interests of Malta. Contrary to some Opposition MPs who are lobbying very hard against Malta, I shall keep working against misinformation spread about my country.”