‘If anyone returned to Malta because of new proposed police chief, they made a mistake’ – PM
If anyone came back to Malta because of the proposed appointment of Angelo Gafa as the new Police Commissioner, “then they have made a mistake. They don’t know him as he is a person who will investigate and will not look at faces when deciding to do so,” Prime Minister Robert Abela said on Wednesday.
The Prime Minister was asked by The Malta Independent about whether there is any relation between the return of Labour MP Konrad Mizzi to Malta on Tuesday after an absence of three months, and the announcement of Angelo Gafa as the preferred candidate to be the next Police Commissioner, which was made on Monday.
The question comes after speculation that Mizzi – who was embroiled in a number of scandals while he was a Cabinet Minister under Joseph Muscat’s premiership – had travelled to the United Kingdom to escape police investigation. This is a line of thinking which even members of the opposition have followed, with this assertion being repeated in Parliament more than once.
The timing of Mizzi’s arrival from the UK after he was said to be medically unfit to fly for almost three months coupled with the timing of the announcement of the preferred candidate for the post of Police Commissioner brought up renewed questions in this regard, with some suggesting that Mizzi had chosen Tuesday to arrive because the new Police Commissioner would not investigate him.
Any potential relation between the two events however was quashed by the Prime Minister, who replied to this newsroom’s questions by saying “God forbid that this is the case - and it is not the case.”
The Prime Minister continued by stating that he has always known Angelo Gafa to be an “honest” policeman who is exceptional and diligent in his work; “integrity and discipline are elements which distinguish him.”
Abela diverted somewhat from the question to make an appeal to the Opposition to participate in the next stage of the process - which he described as the most important. The next stage is a parliamentary grilling of Gafa, one which the PN has said that they will boycott because they did not agree with the system used to choose Gafa as the preferred candidate.
Abela appealed for the Opposition to take part in the grilling and to ask questions such as the one posed to him by this newsroom, and harder ones than that.
He expressed the desire to approve Gafa by a unanimous vote in Parliament, much like the appointment of the new Chief Justice Mark Chetcuti was approved unanimously.
He said that the government is committed to allowing the new Police Commissioner to do his job with absolutely no interference.
Coming back to the question, Abela said that if anyone felt that they could return to Malta just because Gafa was appointed as Police Commissioner, then “they have made a mistake because they don’t know him, as he is a person who will investigate and will not look at any faces.”
He added that he will be emphasising that pending magisterial inquiries are hurried up to reach a conclusion, noting in response to a later question that he cannot understand why there are delays on the outcome of these inquiries.
Abela was also asked by this newsroom whether he believed Konrad Mizzi’s reason for his extended stay in the United Kingdom; on medical grounds.
To this, Abela said that Mizzi had submitted medical certificates excusing his absence to the Speaker of the House, and that it is the Speaker’s discretion on whether to believe them or not. If the Speaker thinks that the absence was not justified, then he can fine Mizzi the necessary €50 fine for each sitting he has missed.
Mizzi arrived in Malta on Tuesday, saying that he had gone abroad on work-related business and then had gotten sick and remained there till he got better.