Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia said today that the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia confirmed in the worst way possible what the Opposition had been saying for years: that the country was not living normality, that the institutions were being eroded, that criminals could act with impunity and that the people were not protected.
Speaking in a Radio 101 interview, Dr Delia said it was right that civil society was standing up for its rights because this was something which did not only involve political parties.
The PN, he said, stood by its calls for the Police Commissioner to be replaced, and for his successor to be appointed by a two-thirds majority in parliament. The same applied to the Attorney General.
The functions of the Attorney General also needed to become truly autonomous of the government when he was not exercising his role as the government’s legal adviser, Dr Delia said.
A case in point were the AG's actions or lack of them as chairman of the FIAU financial intelligence unit. How could the AG be both an investigator and the government's defender?
Referring to tomorrow’s debate in Parliament on the Caruana Galizia murder, Dr Delia said it was good that the government had relented after initially opposing the debate. This was something which was needed in the national interest. Nothing could be more important, not even the Budget.
The opposition would make its proposals on how Malta could return to the basics of democracy, normality and the rule of law.
Reacting to comments made by former GWU general secretary Tony Zarb against women camping protest outside the Auberge de Castille, Dr Delia said that just when one thought that this country had reached the bottom, the bottom fell out. Mr Zarb's comments, he said, were disgraceful, more so when these women were only seeking freedom and democracy.
TEACHERS' INDUSTRIAL ACTION
Questioned on education and the teachers' industrial action, Dr Delia said government investment in education was inadequate. It was a disgrace that people were opting not to become teachers, because they were poorly paid.
But education was not the only sector in crisis. Others included transport, Air Malta and the army, where political appointments were the order of the day.
The Caruana Galizia murder was the worst thing that could happen, but the government would also not be allowed to get away with its other failures, and the Opposition would adopt a firm stance in parliament and beyond, Dr Delia said.