Prime Minister urges quick convening of Constitutional Convention

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat yesterday urged a speedy convocation of the Constitutional Convention as the means to move Malta forward through the coming years.

Speaking at a party activity in Rabat, Dr Muscat referred at length to what has been happening in the two weeks since the killing of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

He criticised the Opposition for asking for a debate on the situation in the country instead of the Budget debate last Monday. Echoing Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne who spoke before him, Dr Muscat said the Opposition leader should have known that the Budget debate cannot be interrupted.

The Opposition made its request on Monday evening when it had kept silent on Monday morning. Were they still asleep?

Then when the government accepted to have the debate and told the House Business Committee so, the Opposition representative asked for more time to consult.

The debate will be held in a full day debate to be held today.

Dr Muscat said he intends to hear what the Nationalist Party is proposing in this regard. But certain proposals cannot be accepted. For instance, if the Opposition propose sacking the Attorney General they must not only get two-thirds of the House in favour of such a move but they must also prove the AG is no longer able to fulfil his duty.

Dr Muscat added he will not accept any conditions set by the Opposition in this discussion.

There are some issues, he added, without clarifying what they were, that can be agreed upon immediately and implemented but there are other issues that require long discussions and longer implementation.

If the Convention does this, it may bring about a big change in Malta not because of the death of Daphne Caruana Galizia but also because DCG would have been in favour of such changes. These changes will be for the good of all Malta.

Earlier he spoke about a court judgement which did not raise any comment in Malta. This regarded a quantity of drugs, cocaine, in which the police case was badly managed - there was no lawyer present at the questioning, no expert was consulted, the AG office did not do its duty and the case was brought to court after it had become time-barred.

Did anyone ask for the sacking of the AG? Then you find out this happened under the PN, and the AG was another AG and the Commissioner of Police was another person. The government knows this but will still not attack the institution.

He has been attacked because he did not meet the women camping at Castile. He is ready to meet them if they ask to meet. This government respects the right of people to protest.

In the past two weeks he did not hide but on the contrary gave interviews to whatever foreign station asked. His strength is that he can look around him and sees a united team. He is serene because of this. The Maltese people do not like it when Malta is given a bad name abroad. The Maltese people know that what happened was very bad but there have been others who have tried to portray Malta as a country where lawlessness rules. He has warned Adrian Delia not to go down this route even though his people will eat him up as a result.

Dr Muscat claimed that the three PN MEPs last week also voted against a proposal to protect whistleblowers but they were chided by a French MEP who told them that approval of the proposal would honour what Daphne had died for.

Dr Muscat said that at the beginning of last week he had a choice: he either carry on with his duties which included foreign travel and get more investment and jobs and still be attacked or else he stays at home and still gets attacked. He chose the former as that brings jobs to Malta, as will soon be revealed.

Earlier Miriam Dalli, MEP, made a strong speech in which she revealed what goes on at the European Parliament and which people in Malta rarely get to hear about. The Romanian MEP who was very critical of Malta is a former Minister of Justice in her country who during her term attacked a journalist's investigative reports.

Adrian Delia should tell his MEPs to defend Malta in the European Parliament, instead of attacking it. Even if they remain alone in the EP, the Labour MEPs will still defend Malta's name.

Deputy leader Chris Fearne referred to Dr Muscat's plan to retire from office sometime during this legislature and strongly urged him not to but on the contrary lead LP in many more election campaigns to come.