The assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia had changed Malta forever, Opposition leader Adrian Delia said today.

Speaking on Radio 101, Dr Delia said people were now wondering if they were safe to express their opinions.

He called Ms Caruana Galizia’s murder an attack on democracy and freedom of speech.

The Opposition leader, who had slapped Ms Caruana Galizia with five libel suits, recalled that Malta had already suffered such attacks in the 1980s, where even taking a PN newspaper to work was forbidden.

The journalist's murder, he said, was a culmination of all the warnings the Opposition had given down the years about the erosion of the rule of law.

While saying it was too early to speculate whether her killing was political, he said political responsibility for the murder had to be shouldered.

He accused Prime Minister Joseph Muscat of appointing a police commissioner on the basis of his incompetence, rather than his capabilities.

Dr Delia accused the police of failing to protect someone who was obviously in need of protection.

He said it would have been better if the government spent the €1 million reward money on protecting Ms Caruana Galizia when she was still alive.

The Opposition leader said the Prime Minister had to shoulder responsibility for appointing a police commissioner who served as a “political object in the government’s hands”.

He spoke of the need to rebuild faith in the country’s institutions.

Dr Delia said important appointments, including that of the Attorney General and Police Commissioner, should be done through a two-thirds majority in Parliament.

“Why wouldn’t the government agree with such a system”, Dr Delia questioned.

He said the Attorney General should be there to protect all citizens, rather than the government of the day.

The exclusion of an Italian senator from an anti-mafia delegation set to visit Malta was “scary”.

The senator told Italian media he was requested by the government not to form part of the delegation. The government has denied the allegations.

“It is scary to see the government making a statement that it was against its criticism. This is dangerous territory,” Dr Delia said.

Morals and values no longer existed under a Labour government where everything was up for sale, Dr Delia said.  

He said there was a need to realise the rotten state the government had gotten Malta into.

Dr Delia vowed that the Opposition would not be silenced, and would continue to defend democracy.

The Opposition now had to show there were good people in the country who could not be bought, he said.

There was a need to show that Malta had values and believed in good governance, he concluded.