Opposition leader Simon Busuttil has called on the Prime Minister to sack Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia, whom he accused of 'a cover up' over an incident yesterday in which his driver fired three shots at another car. (see http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20141120/local/update-8-shooting-incident-ministerial-driver-suspended-from-all-duties.544812 )
Speaking at a press conference Dr Busuttil pointed to discrepancies between an official statement issued by the Home Affairs Ministry yesterday and the true version of events.
The ministry had said that the ministerial driver, who is a police constable, had fired warning shots in the air when all shots had actually hit the car.
Dr Busuttil said Dr Mallia was not fit for purpose. His ministry had had a string of controversies and Dr Muscat should remove him immediately.
If the prime minister did not demand Dr Mallia's resignation, he would be showing he had no control over him, Dr Busuttil said.
"If he does nothing, the prime minister would be showing weakness and that he is not able to control one of his own Cabinet minister," Dr Busuttil said.
"The government was caught lying.
"Manuel Mallia's first reaction was to lie and to cover up what had happened. It was only when it was obvious that the statement issued last night did not tally with the real version of events that the minister said the truth. He has lost all credibility, his position is no longer tenable."
Dr Busuttil said the minister's driver had shown excessive and disproportionate use of force, with the situation made worse because he was a policeman and the driver of the minister responsible for the police.
"We do not live in the wild west," Dr Busuttil said. One could no longer have a situation where everyone who was part of the Labour government thought he could do whatever he liked.
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STATEMENT WAS BASED ON INITIAL INFORMATION GIVEN - MINISTRY
In a reply this evening, the ministry said that the Department of Information statement issued late yesterday was based on the initial information given.
The ministry said it later transpired that the statement that warning shots had been fired was not precise.
This was made clear on the first opportunity this morning, during which Dr Mallia himself addressed the media during a news conference he called to give journalists all the information available and the opportunity to ask whatever they wanted about the incident.
The ministry said that the media were on the site of the incident and could film and take all the photographs they wanted.