The assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia last Monday was a "mortal blow to democracy" and the Prime Minister should step down immediately, former Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil said today in Parliament.

Commenting on the financial estimates for the Home Affairs Ministry, he said that Joseph Muscat had been discredited in the eyes of the world and would surely have to rethink his "plan" to take up the presidency of the EU in two years' time.

"After Monday, democracy is not what it was. It was already in a precarious state and for four years I have been saying that democracy was being eroded.
What happened was a mortal blow to our democracy. This is serious as we are supposed to be a European, democratic country.

"Who is responsible? No doubt in my mind that responsibility lies with the Prime Minister. No one is saying that he did the crime or that he commissioned it. God forbid we were to think that. But as leader, he is responsible for all that happens in this country and what brought us to this point," he said, saying that having five police commissioners in a few years was making Malta look like a 'banana republic'.

Having five police commissioners in a few years was making Malta look like a banana republic

He claimed that Michael Cassar had resigned as the fourth police commissioner under Joseph Muscat, because he disagreed with being unable to do anything about the report from the Financial Analysis Intelligence Unit which linked officials like chief of staff like Keith Schembri with money-laundering allegations.

Read: Police call Caruana Galizia murder press conference… but answer no questions

Dr Busuttil also poured scorn on the press conference called by the current police commissioner, saying that this alone was grounds to call for his resignation.

He again called on the government to appoint someone as police commissioner who had the support of two-thirds of the House of Representatives.

Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered in a car bomb. Photo: Mark Zammit Cordina

He also said it was wholly inappropriate for Silvio Valletta, a deputy police commissioner, to be sitting at the press conference, as he was the husband of a government minister - Gozo Minister Justyne Caruana - which could constitute a clear conflict of interest.

The Attorney General Peter Grech also came under fire, with Dr Busuttil saying he should be removed by Parliament for his incomptency.

"The judiciary is our last hope – but it is also being undermined with each passing day as it is being overwhelmed with Labour people. Could you really feel that Toni Abela would give me a fair hearing after years of calling me names?" he said, adding that institutions were not undermined by being criticised.

"Corruption is what undermines institutions, it is the mentality that undermines institutions," he said.

Dr Busuttil spoke at length about the Panama Papers and the lack of serious investigation into them, and confirmed that he had yesterday opened a Constitutional case asking for Tonio Mizzi to be recused from the case because of his link to Labour MEP Marlene Mizzi, saying there was as much of a conflict of interest as there was with Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera in the murder inquiry - not due to a lack of integrity but because of perception.

Closing, he warned that the situation in Malta was being seen by foreign media as one of Mafia-linked crime, which links to power.