Police Commissioner Peter Paul Zammit resigned yesterday and his deputy Ray Zammit was appointed Acting Commissioner.

Mr Zammit had a brief meeting with Prime Minister Joseph Muscat in the morning, in which it was decided he would be given a newly created role: security coordinator of forthcoming international events such as the Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) next year.

The meeting took place shortly after Dr Muscat dismissed as media speculation the strong rumour that Mr Zammit would soon be asked to step down. Mr Zammit, who was appointed just days after the general election last year, will be the shortest-lived police commissioner since Edward Bencini, who served between 1974 and 1975.

Brigadier John Spiteri had served in the role for a single year, between 1987 and 1988, but that was a stop-gap measure after his predecessor stepped down.

The government will likely portray Mr Zammit’s move as a promotion to a needed position. In a comment to TVM, he said: “Every promotion brings with it changes that are not all appreciated”.

However, sources said the Prime Minister was not pleased with his performance.

The process leading up to the appointment of Mr Zammit was something of a tussle.

Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia’s first choice was Deputy Commissioner Pierre Calleja, who turned down the offer.

The Office of the Prime Minister pushed for former assistant commissioner Michael Cassar, but he was then appointed head of the Security Service.

Implementation of a reorganisation process on different levels of the Corps

Mr Zammit, who at one point acted as Labour’s legal procurator, was the OPM’s choice, sources said.

The only sign of dissatisfaction in the government’s official statement was in a line announcing “a study and implementation of a reorganisation process on different levels of the Police Corps”.

The move comes a day after the head of the EU anti-fraud office (OLAF), Giovanni Kessler, accused the outgoing commissioner of failing to cooperate with the agency on three requests concerning a fresh investigation of former EU Commissioner John Dalli.

Mr Zammit said there had only been one request and a response had been sent.

He also claimed it was illegal and could not be complied with.

The Nationalist Party welcomed Ray Zammit’s appointment as Acting Commissioner but said the outgoing commissioner should not shoulder full responsibility over the OLAF issue.

This also had to be shouldered by Dr Muscat, who had appointed him.

However, the incident was the latest in a series of controversies that dogged Mr Zammit’s stint at the helm of the police force and which prompted the PN leader Simon Busuttil to accuse him of being a government puppet.

Ray Zammit is related to the Home Affairs Minister.

He has been responsible for the Corradino Correctional Facility since April 2013, as acting director, following the resignation of the former director Abraham Zammit.

The government did not explain whether he would retain this position or why he had been appointed in an acting capacity.

Dr Mallia will be making a ministerial statement in Parliament on Wednesday.

Ray Zammit, who is almost 60, joined the police force in 1976 and has served in the Mobile Squad, the districts and the Special Assignment Group.

In January, he was made Deputy Commissioner along with two other officers.

He is known informally as il-Mulej (the Lord) which, as it happens, will fit in with the force’s Latin motto: Domine Dirige, Nos (Lord Direct Us).