Lawrence Cutajar was an obstacle to justice, Adrian Delia says

In his time as Police Commissioner, Lawrence Cutajar was an obstacle to justice and a protection for criminality, said Opposition Leader Adrian Delia yesterday.

His resignation, announced on Friday, came two years too late because in this timeframe the police force did not take the steps that were needed regarding all the allegations and evidence that was emerging on important issues, Delia said on the Nationalist Party radio station.

He said that Prime Minister Robert Abela had insisted that he did not take advice from Delia, and yet one of the decisions taken was precisely to see Lawrence Cutajar leave the police corps, which is what the PN has been calling for in recent months.

The next step now should be that the government takes up the Opposition’s proposal to have the appointment of the Police Commissioner approved by at least a two-thirds majority in Parliament, Delia said.

The PN leader said it is too early to comment fully on the setting up of a board of governance within the Cabinet. He did suggest, however, that the possibility should be explored for the board to include not only representatives from the Cabinet, but for this to be expanded to include the

The next step now should be that the government takes up the Opposition’s proposal to have the police commissioner approved by at least a two-thirds majority in Parliament, Delia said.

Opposition and civil society.

He said he was against having Mario Cutajar as its secretary because Cutajar, as head of the public service, worked to protect the government rather than to serve the public. The Opposition is calling for Cutajar’s removal so it cannot accept him as Secretary to this board.

Delia said that PM Abela had spoken in one way before he was elected and now he was speaking differently. Before the election, he spoke of continuity, possibly to obtain the votes of people who supported Joseph Muscat, but now that he had been elected he was doing things differently. He said he hoped that the PM does not do things for political convenience.