Former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s 'threat' to stand for this year’s European Parliament elections is “an act of bullying” on the courts and the Maltese public who demanded his dismissal from office in 2019, Repubblika president Robert Aquilina said on Monday.
Addressing a press conference at the foot of Castille’s steps, Aquilina said that it was “obscene” that Prime Minister Robert Abela was joining in Muscat’s attacks on the judiciary, in what constituted a new deal with the devil (patt imxajtan).
Aquilina described Abela’s “attempt to undermine the judiciary” as a “fascist attack of intimidation”.
On Friday, Abela cast doubt on the ongoing inquiry into the concessions of state hospitals to Vitals, questioning whether its conclusion was being timed to damage the Labour Party ahead of the elections.
Aquilina said it was “not true” that the magistrate’s inquiry was taking longer than others, adding that both Muscat and Abela only had themselves to blame for the delays, having until recently repeatedly ignored recommendations to establish a special anti-corruption magistrate.
Abela and Muscat privy to confidential information
Aquilina argued that Abela’s outburst revealed that he and Muscat were illegitimately privy to confidential information emerging from the inquiry.
“How does Abela know that the inquiry’s conclusions will be damaging to his party, not beneficial? This shows that he and Muscat have information they shouldn’t have”, Aquilina said.
“We, on the other hand, don’t know what the magistrate’s conclusions will be, but we know that Muscat is losing one court battle after another.”
Describing Abela as “unfit for the role of prime minister”, Aquilina said that the Maltese public now knew that his public apology after the publication of the Daphne inquiry was just a matter of “political convenience”.
Aquilina said that the government’s motto was “Joseph Muscat ahead of everything else (l-ewwel u qabel kollox)”, arguing that the government’s priority now seemed to be to defend its former leader.
“Does this mean that whoever robs the public deserves a get out of jail free card?”, Aquilina asked.