Prime Minister Robert Abela on Sunday said he would not celebrate the result of a MoneyVal anti-money laundering scrutiny of the country, saying more work still needed to be done.  

Times of Malta reported on Sunday how a draft position on Malta, circulated among Council of Europe member states has taken a positive view of Malta’s overhaul of its financial crime laws. 

A final position will be taken next month, but the island still has to wait until the summer to learn whether it has avoided being put on a list of untrustworthy financial jurisdictions, known as the grey list.  

Reacting to the developments, Abela said that while he was confident of Malta’s efforts, he did not want to send out the message that it was mission accomplished.

“This is not the time for euphoria. We do not want to undo the hard work that has been done. In fact we need to continue working to improve our laws and their enforcement. We cannot go back to the structural deficiencies of previous years,” he said.  

The prime minister was taking questions from a panel of journalists from various media houses that was broadcast the Labour Party’s ONE media arm.  

Prostitution and cannabis reforms  

Abela also spoke briefly about upcoming social reforms, which he said had long been on the cards. 

He said the government would soon announce a reform of cannabis legislation that would no longer penalise people for smoking a joint.  

The reform, he said, would in no way encourage drug use, but would seek to do away with criminal proceedings of any kind for those caught with a small amount of cannabis.  

Abela also weighed in on an upcoming reform to prostitution laws, which he said, where not aimed at encouraging the spread of brothels. 

The government he said, would not tolerate the activity of pimps. However, it was time, that the victims of prostitution were given the help they needed rather than being put into the penal system.  

Drawing on his past experience as a voluntary lawyer for NGO Caritas, Abela said he would never forget the case of a young woman who developed drug abuse problems at the age of 12. Not long after, she was dragged into prostitution by reckless parents. Abela said the young woman was handed an effective prison sentence, when what was truly needed was help to get back on her feet.  

Keith Schembri and ‘independent institutions’ 

Abela was asked multiple questions about the arraignment of former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri, who remains behind bars after a court denied his request for bail.  

Abela said the case of 11 people, including Schembri, being charged with money laundering and other offences was clear proof that the country’s institutions were functioning independently.  

He said he did not want to forget the lessons learned over this process, but said the country needed closure.  

“Wherever there was wrongdoing, this needs to be addressed, and we are committed to see this is done,” he said.  

Meanwhile, Abela hit out at the Opposition which he said was not pulling the same rope as the government when it came to addressing shortcomings.  

Instead, he said, Opposition MEPs were dragging Malta through the mud at a debate organised at the European Parliament earlier this week.  

He said the debate, which discussed the developments in the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, was instigated by former Opposition leader Simon Busuttil, who today is the Secretary General of the European People’s Party.

PN MEPs he said, had painted a picture of the country that did not reflect the truth.