Prime Minister Robert Abela said Thursday he saw no reason to sack Education Minister Owen Bonnici, hours after the constitutional court ruled that he breached protestors' human rights by repeatedly ordering the clearance of the Daphne Caruana Galizia memorial. 

Fielding questions from journalists, Dr Abela recalled that he had reversed the order to clear the makeshift memorial at the foot of the Great Siege Monument in Valletta soon after taking office.

He could see where the court decision was going and had acted accordingly prior to the sentence being handed down, he said. 

The prime minister said Thursday's decision showed Malta's institutions worked and the courts acted independently of the government. 

Dr Abela, who used to be a paid advisor to former prime minister Joseph Muscat, said he had never discussed the clearing of the memorial with Dr Muscat. 

On former minister Konrad Mizzi nomination to head a parliamentary delegation to the OSCE, Dr Abela said the government had withdrawn the nomination when faced with criticism. 

Dr Abela said he had not questioned if a lucrative €80,000 consultancy contract given to Dr Mizzi soon after he resigned was approved by Joseph Muscat.

PN says Bonnici should shoulder political responsibility and resign

The Nationalist Party said minister Owen Bonnici should shoulder political responsibility after the constitutional court judgement, and resign.

The court judgement was another dark spot on the Labour government's record and the administration could not act like nothing had happened, the PN said.  

Bonnici: I will take no lessons from Adrian Delia

Meanwhile, minister Owen Bonnici in a late afternoon Facebook post indicated he is staying put.

In his post, Dr Bonnici also observed that the court's decision showed how national institutions acted independently. He also recalled that early in the case, the court had not even accepted a request for the issue of a warrant of prohibitory injunction to stop the cleaning the monument. 

He said the government always respected the courts' decisions, and in this case, Prime Minister Robert Abela took his decision earlier this month. 

Referring to the PN's comments, he said he took no lessons from PN leader Adrian Delia.