Opposition leader Adrian Delia on Sunday questioned why the government would not even entertain a discussion about a public inquiry into the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia

Speaking during a political activity in Valletta, Dr Delia said the government had promised to stop at nothing to identify who masterminded the murder.

Despite these promises, Malta was no closer to knowing who was behind the assassination, Dr Delia said.

He said the Opposition had asked for a public inquiry to see if Ms Caruana Galizia’s murder was preventable, yet the government was too scared to even discuss the motion presented in parliament.

Dr Delia vowed that the PN would stop at nothing in its fight for justice and the truth.

He said Ms Caruana Galizia’s murder was not just about the killing of a person but was also a blow to democracy and free speech.

On Transparency International’s corruption perception index, Dr Delia said Malta’s plummet down the rankings showed that Joseph Muscat’s government was the most corrupt one in history.

He said Malta was now ranked in 51st place, behind counties like Rwanda, Bhutan and Botswana.

PN governments had spent years building Malta’s reputation which had now been dropped to new lows thanks to Muscat, the Opposition leader said.

He pointed out how Pilatus Bank was mentioned as one of the reasons behind Malta’s slump on the index.

Dr Delia said the banking sector was suffering because of the government’s actions.

Instead of trying to solve this, Dr Delia said the Prime Minister was demanding that banks carried out less rigorous checks so as to let in more business.

The Opposition leader insisted that the government’s duty was to ensure that Malta’s financial sector was a serious one that attracted serious investors.

He said it was typical of Labour to make mistakes then blame others.

Dr Delia appealed to the banking sector to ignore the Prime Minister’s calls for banks to be more lax in their approach.

Turning to passport sales, Dr Delia lambasted the continued sale of Malta’s citizenship.

“We are nationalists. We do not sell citizenship. We create. We have faith in our people. We are capable of selling services and talent, not our country’s citizenship”, he said.

He said the PN was analysing how the scheme could be replaced with an investment plan to attract serious investments to Malta without selling  citizenship.

The Opposition leader also took aim at the government deal with Corinthia.

He said land worth €700 million was being “donated” to a private entity.

While the PN was not against six-star investments, it could never be in favour of giving land away on the cheap to big business without even a proper tendering process.

Dr Delia was equally scathing in his views about the government’s €700 million investment in the road network.

He said simply widening roads without improving the necessary services and infrastructure would not solve Malta’s traffic problems.

At the end of his speech, Dr Delia vowed that the PN would continue to protect the unborn child and would not permit the government to turn Malta into a soulless state.

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