The government is being urged to publish feedback it received from a committee appointed in the wake of the inquiry into Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination, on how the media in Malta could be strengthened.
The government received the feedback in June and was bound to publish it within 10 days, the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation said on Thursday.
On Monday the government said it was currently analysing feedback it received on legal amendments required to strengthen the media in Malta, as well as entrenching the fourth pillar of democracy in the constitution.
The committee, led by retired judge Michael Mallia, was appointed to advise on how to implement recommendations related to the media made by the Daphne Caruana Galizia inquiry. Mallia also chaired that board of inquiry, which wrapped up its work in July last year.
The retired judge and seven other members sit on the committee, which includes journalists, editors, academics and a lawyer.
On Thursday the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation welcomed the news that the government is analysing feedback, adding the government must now adhere to its obligation to publish the assessment.
"One of the principal motives for the inquiry was for the Maltese state to learn lessons from Daphne’s murder. It is therefore particularly encouraging to hear that the committee of experts responded to the government’s proposed legal amendments and the proposal for public interest media to be recognised in Malta’s Constitution as the fourth pillar of democracy," it said in a statement.
"This principle must be the basis of any legislation and reforms aimed at creating an enabling environment for public interest journalism that ensures accountability and transparency."
It was in this spirit of accountability and transparency that the government must now adhere to its obligation to publish the assessment, it added.
Since parliament was now in recess, the foundation called on the government to send a copy of the recommendations to the Speaker of the House and to immediately publish the recommendations through the Department of Information.