Updated at 9.15pm with PN's press conference
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said today that while slain journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia had testified all that she knew about him in court, the country would never know what she knew about the leader of the Opposition.
Speaking in Parliament on the Budget speech during which he opted to speak about the murder rather than on the country’s economic results, Dr Muscat said Ms Caruana Galizia made serious accusations about the leader of the Opposition which he had no facts upon.
“I would have spoken about these allegations after the court judgement, reaching political rather than personal conclusions,” he said.
He added that the country was now in a vacuum situation.
“When a serious allegation was made about me, I went to court and asked for the appointment of a magistrate to investigate what had been said ... It is in my interest and in the interest of the country that the truth be known ...
“But in the same way, the leader of the Opposition has no other way but to request an inquiry about what has been alleged about him and if the allegations are found to be true he should resign."
'The main target of the assassination was freedom of expression'
Earlier, Dr Muscat said that the main target of Ms Caruana Galizia’s assassination on Monday was freedom of expression. He said he agreed with the call “we will not be silenced” but that call could not be relative. It had to be total.
What happened, he said, had marked the whole country.
“Shame on those who think that there is anyone of goodwill in this country who is not shocked and angry at what happened to Ms Caruana Galizia and the whole of Maltese society,” he said.
No one from both sides of the House, he said, had an interest to escape such a historic moment, where adults were separated from children, where history still had to judge politicians’ reactions.
This, Dr Muscat said, was a sad moment of national mourning that was unprecedented.
Dr Muscat said that Malta had to come out of what happened stronger as a people than it had ever been before.
He reiterated his confidence in the country’s institutions, which he said should not be undermined.
'Her pen cut like a razor'
The Prime Minister noted that while Ms Caruana Galizia had hurt him personally, he had values of compassion and humanity which were an essential part of what made one human and united the country as one people.
He said that while the reason behind such a macabre murder could be for one to get his own back, it could also be to stop something from being discovered.
“What was she going to say that someone was so much afraid of it,” he asked.
Dr Muscat said he was convinced that investigators, with the help of the family, would leave no stone underturned. “I want this situation solved today before tomorrow ... It is an extraordinary case that is unprecedented and one that needs extraordinary remedies.”
That was why the assistance of foreign investigators was requested, not because of a lack of confidence in Maltese institutions but because the country lacked certain resources other investigators had.
The government was also willing to increase international involvement and it accepted the EPP’s call for an international investigation. It was willing to be up to any type of scrutiny for there to be no doubts about the process.
“We will be actively examining and offering a reward as a state to those giving information about the murder.”
He also reiterated that the government was committed to offer a substantial reward that would be unprecedented for information. Those giving the information would be protected by all the safeguards at law.
He said that his initial duty in this situation was towards the person who had been murdered and to ensure that justice was done with whoever committed the attack.
Ms Caruana Galizia, he said, had a pen which cut like a razor. She was consistent in her inconsistencies and had a style which varied from one that reached international standards with well researched articles, to other articles that were nothing more than gossip.
He said that he agreed with her liberal views on civil liberties but she was also classist in her writings and judged a person from his or her attitude.
Dr Muscat said that while Ms Caruana Galizia had criticised both himself and the leader of the Opposition, she had embarked on her criticism of him more than 20 years ago when she did not even have a blog and he was still just a biċċa ġurnalist (piece of journalist) as she used to call him and was not yet active in politics.
He said that throughout this period, he had been in contact with her four times, two of them on the telephone. Once he had sent her a note to which she replied when she was a victim of vandalism, and once he had met her personally.
However, he said, he was one of her favourite targets. Her dose of writings against him had increased when he became an MEP, he said, and even more when he became Opposition leader and then Prime Minister.
Because of her writings, his lifestyle and that of the people around him had had to change.
“My family suffered with me. But never in these 20 years, especially since I have been Prime Minister, have I ever called her names or turned people against her ... I always sought to calm the situation even when I and those around me were personally hurt,” he said adding that while he never gave in to her he never felt the need to hysterically attack her.
He criticised police sergeant Ramon Mifsud who celebrated Ms Caruana Galizia’s murder on Facebook and said he had been suspended and he hoped he would go through all the necessary measures.
He noted that if there was a person who would not have wanted what happened to happen, it was a country’s Prime Minister.
The economy was cruising and the government was working hard to ensure there was success and in the midst of all this a person was assassinated and the country put in a bad light.
‘It would be irresponsible of me to resign at this time’
Dr Mucat said that at such a difficult moment, he felt he had to shoulder his responsibility by leading the people, being with the people.
“I will not be here another election, power does not influence me but it would be irresponsible of me if, at this moment, when the country needs to be united, I would resign.”
Dr Muscat noted that it had been said that Ms Caruana Galizia was an obvious target and that she had received threats.
But the obvious threats she spoke about were coming from people who were close to the leader of the Opposition.
“I ask the leader of the Opposition what did he do to stop these people from threatening her,” Dr Muscat said.
He called for the government and the Opposition to work together: “this is an attack on us all - and even when we are fighting politically, we have to find a common aim ...
“I believe the people have an innate sense of justice ... and this is a responsibility we have to shoulder together.”
Unlike the Opposition, he said, the government was willing to work for national unity without setting any conditions.
“I will continue with my work, I will perservere, I will never poison others against our country,” he said as he concluded that he believed the country would overcome this challenge.
PN's press conference
Addressing a press conference later, Opposition leader Adrian Delia referred to Dr Muscat’s challenge to him to call for an inquiry and said that there was noting in Ms Caruana Galizia’s claims about him that he believed merited him calling for such an inquiry.
He also said he did not know of any people who had threatened Ms Caruana Galizia but he condemned such threats.
Dr Delia criticised Dr Muscat for not weighing in on the issue of political responsibility.
He said he had expected the Prime Minister to shoulder political responsibility for the decisions that created an environment that allowed the murder to happen.
The Opposition leader said that the investigation was now being led by a magistrate the Opposition had confidence in.
He noted that when the Prime Minister first mentioned the involvment of foreign investigators he had said that they would lend credibility to the investigation.
This, he said, showed an admission by the Prime Minister of his lack of confidence in Maltese investigators.