Alex Saliba, lawyer
Last week Malta witnessed a double murder. The murder of a mother, a wife and a journalist which shocked the whole nation. And the murder of any sense of decency from an Opposition which chose to resort to irresponsible statements such as placing Malta in juxtaposition with a Mafia State.
A lot has been said about the former. We were all glued for hours reading news portals, watching live feeds from Bidnija, pinching ourselves because we felt that we were living a surreal nightmare. An event that will mark all of us. There is no single person of goodwill who was not angered; this affected every single one of us.
We immediately saw a resolute and politically mature Prime Minister who spoke of national unity during these challenging days. A Prime Minister who made it clear that he, and his government, were not going to leave any stone unturned in the quest of finding the perpetrators behind this heinous crime.
On the other hand, we had the de jure leader of the Nationalist Party Adrian Delia who, minutes after this murder, rushed to the conclusion that this was a political murder and that the Prime Minister had to shoulder responsibility.
The shock that one of us was mercilessly killed, transformed itself into disbelief that the PN was using this tragedy to solve its internal rifts. It is pitiful, because Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder was not an attack on the PN but on one of the most fundamental pillars of our democracy, the right of freedom of expression.
The written statements that Delia was forced to read, word for word, were the antithesis of his own leadership campaign only a couple of weeks ago. From the archenemy of the PM and a biċċa blogger, according to Delia, Caruana Galizia and justice for her murder instantaneously became a genuine cause he wants us to believe he is heroically fighting for. Hypocrisy, to say the least.
There are those within the old guard of the PN who are blatantly taking this occasion to expose all of Delia’s deficiencies, which make him not fit for purpose to stand in as Opposition leader.
Daphne’s death must not be used as a political chessboard
Last Sunday, Simon Busuttil’s troupe isolated Delia in an effort to place Busuttil as the de facto leader of the PN. The likes of Jason Azzopardi and the Fenech Adami brothers were the main ringleaders in front of the police headquarters last Sunday. Delia was nowhere to be seen, while Busuttil was making a front row appearance smiling to dispregative chanting towards our police force.
This childish Opposition rejoices every time it has the opportunity to unjustly attack our democratically appointed institutions. Because its only partisan interest is to try to tarnish Malta’s reputation, simply to jeopardise Malta’s economic growth by depicting us internationally as a bunch of people living off criminal proceeds and Mafia activities.
Daphne’s death has therefore again exposed the PN’s deficiencies, both the internal and external ones. It’s a pity that Malta, a State that is progressing in the right direction has ended up with such a narrow-minded Opposition, which only instils the tribal politics modus operandi.
The brutal attack on Daphne and consequently freedom of expression in Malta is an attack on all of us. The government’s restlessness in the quest to uncover the whole truth behind this barbaric act of terror is what the Maltese people truly want, and what Daphne and her family deserve.
Daphne’s death must not be used as a political chessboard. Let us work towards unity and do away with the judge and jury games. The Maltese and foreign investigating teams are doing their best to bring justice and closure after days of unnecessary speculations.
Pride in our country must not subsist only when in government. Malta’s name must be defended always. This is a moment where women and men are distinguished from children. History will judge us.
Jason Azzopardi, Nationalist Party spokesman for Justice
The laws are not the problem. Their non-implementation is.
Malta is fast resembling a failed State, a State with a nice façade but rotten at the core.
Till a few days ago, we would watch on TV the dramatic scenes of fragile states around the world. We blessed the fact we were never in the news internationally other than for the best of reasons.
Today, after the brutal murder of the fourth estate – of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia – we hang our heads in shame because, for the first time in our recent history, we have joined the list of rogue states where poor governance and corruption reign supreme.
Block by block, this government dismantled our democracy to make way for a culture of excess. The government is leading a failing democratic system within which it is using the laws as a shield.
Our State is rotten at the core since our institutions have become toothless
For years, Caruana Galizia warned us of the slippery slope we were going down. It’s obvious the government has lost control. Dark forces are at play in our country because the government has opened the floodgates of hell to whoever had a buck.
Where is the intelligence community that managed the Libya crisis so effectively? The Prime Minister has systematically dismantled it. He thought he was being clever when he smirked as he survived one scandal after another. He survived Café Premier, Gaffarena, the LNG terminal, the Panama Papers. Yet, he only thought of his survival and not that of our democracy.
Now, we know at what cost.
Our State is rotten at the core since our institutions have become toothless. The Attorney General has become the personal lawyer of the Prime Minister when he should be the lawyer of the people protecting the interests of the republic according to the Constitution.
Do I need to spell out why the position of the Police Commissioner, the fifth in four years, is untenable and why he has become a huge walking embarrassment to the corps and to the country by being out of depth and totally unfit for purpose? Not to mention his refusal to arraign on charges of corruption certain individuals close to the corridors of power.
This blatant dereliction of duties is a form of corruption of the State and strikes the rule of law at the core. The reinstatement of 27 police officers with a criminal record and his vehement refusal to press criminal charges in the wake of damning FIAU reports on money laundering by cronies close to the Prime Minister simply beggar belief.
The army, a once proud institution, is non-existent. Its commander was the recipient of three illegal promotions in less than three months, a kick in the teeth for many diligent officers with decades of professional training behind them and ignoring a chain of command.
What rule of law is it when there is an ongoing institutional tug of war between Identity Malta and the Electoral Commission after the former refused to comply with the highest law of the land? Is it just that the Justice Minister is an accomplice in the crass breach of the Constitution?
Our justice system is failing us and this is evidenced by the huge fall in Malta’s ranking in the Global Competitiveness Report 2017. From ranking 37th for judicial independence and 33rd for reliability of police services in 2015, we are now in 51st place in both categories.
The existing laws are not the problem, no.
Twenty plus years of demonisation and dehumanising Daphne in the Labour media and a constant barrage of questioning on how much money was the State “wasting” for her protection under Nationalist governments, that is the problem.
Or, better, that was the problem. Thanks to Joseph Muscat, I had to use the past tense.
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