Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia invoked the spectre of the political violence of the 1980s on Sunday, claiming a “chilling similarity” between events then and now.
Addressing PN activists in Gudja at an event to mark 31 years since the infamous political murder of Raymond Caruana, Dr Delia said the circumstances leading up to the 1986 killing appeared to be playing out again.
“The government of the day allowed criminals to flourish, silenced those who wished to speak out, and corrupted the course of justice, which ended with an innocent man being framed,” he said.
“We are now seeing again the same battles we thought were over. The government and the police are failing to protect ordinary citizens, while criminals find support. Those who speak out are not protected, but instead become the victims of brutal criminality.”
Dr Delia said that weeks after the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, and despite the authorities’ “boasting” over the involvement of FBI and Europol experts, there appeared very little will to solve the crime.
Meanwhile, former FIAU investigator Jonathan Ferris had spoken of fearing for his life because he had uncovered wrongdoing.
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“This is frightening; these are not normal events in a normal country,” Dr Delia said. “The country has once again been seized by a corrupt government and the police force which should be protecting you and your families has been seized by the government and stopped from doing its job.”
Insisting the PN was the strongest voice against the government, and the “voice of liberty of democracy”, he said ordinary people could no longer fool themselves into thinking they would not be affected if they kept their heads down.
Dr Delia also defended Nationalist MEP David Casa against opponents lambasting him as a “traitor” for his participation in the European Parliament delegation visit on the rule of law in Malta last week.
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“Those who highlight the failure of the rule of law in Malta are not betraying their country, they are protecting its reputation. But protecting its reputation, means acknowledging when something has gone wrong, and showing that it is not the country that is corrupt but this government.”
Earlier, as part of the Raymond Caruana commemoration, Dr Delia attended a wreath-laying at the Gudja cemetery and mass at the parish church.
Alternattiva Demokratika chairman Carmel Cacopardo also lay a wreath at Mr Caruana's grave, saying "violence and actions leading to it must never be allowed to rear their head."