The Manuel Mallia case was unravelling itself into a “saga of pathological lies”, the Nationalist Party said, as it exerted more pressure on the Prime Minister to sack the Home Affairs Minister.
PN general secretary Chris Said insisted yesterday that Dr Mallia had lied during the press conference following the shooting and in Parliament when he stated that he did not know Paul Sheehan before he was assigned to him as his driver.
“The Prime Minister should remove Dr Mallia on the basisof this lie alone, let alone when taking into consideration the entire series of lies and cover-up attempts.”
Dr Said challenged Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to reveal at what point after the shooting was communication exchanged between Dr Mallia and Mr Sheehan, what was said and what instructions were given to the driver.
By not removing Dr Mallia, the Prime Minister is showing himself as being weak in the face of power
“Are there any recordings of this conversation? If so, we challenge the Prime Minister to publish them.
“The Prime Minister is dumping the onus on the board of inquiry composed of three former members of the judiciary. But he has political responsibility to shoulder. With what emerged today alone, his position is no longer tenable.”
It might be the case, Dr Said continued, that the Prime Minister was defending Dr Mallia because his own office was involved.
The PN’s Sunday paper Il-Mument revealed that it was Kurt Farrugia, the government’s Head of Communications, who had issued the DOI press release which incorrectly stated that the warning shots were fired into the air, Dr Said added.
“That press release was riddled with obscene errors intended to cover up. Why was Kurt Farrugia involved in this cover-up? This explains the Prime Minister’s attitude.
“Why was Kurt Farrugia present at the press conference the day following the shooting? Because he was the one who issued the press release.”
PN Home Affairs spokesman Jason Azzopardi challenged the Prime Minister to reveal the communication exchanged between himself and Mr Farrugia as well as between Mr Farrugia and Acting Police Commissioner Ray Zammit.
“Who was the person who came up with the hit-and-run idea?” Dr Azzopardi asked. “This is a saga of pathological lies intended to cover up. This government was elected on the call of transparency.”
Dr Mallia, he continued, was no stranger to “twisting facts and misguiding people”.
For the first time in history, the Malta Police Association filed a judicial protest calling for the revocation of performance agreements within the force, arguing that these will only serve to “undermine the independence and the integrity” of the force.
Dr Mallia had also failed to declare his income in his first ministerial declaration of assets, Dr Azzopardi said. He had also lied to Dr Azzopardi’s parliamentary questions, while there have been 700 transfers within the police force, he added.
“By not removing Dr Mallia, the Prime Minister is showing himself as being weak in the face of power.”