Fearne and Abela ‘influenced’ by civil society, pro-police chief petition says

Labour leadership contenders Chris Fearne and Robert Abela have been “influenced” by civil society members, according to an online petition in support of embattled Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar.

The petition, ‘Fiduċja assoluta fil-Kummissarju tal-Pulizija Lawrence Cutajar’, (absolute faith in Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar), has only garnered around 700 signatures so far.

Cutajar is facing calls for resignation by the Opposition, several civil society groups and several sections of the media.

Last week, Chris Fearne, said he would subject the police commissioner to a two-thirds vote in Parliament. Fearne said both the head of police and the Attorney General should be appointed and removed with a bipartisan majority.

The other contender, Robert Abela, said he would immediately remove Cutajar from his post, saying he was not happy with certain parts of the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder investigation.

Cutajar has also faced harsh criticism over apparent police inaction in several high-profile cases, like the Panama Papers revelations and the Pilatus Bank scandal.

The petition, started by a certain Joseph Borg, says Cutajar has given 40 years’ service to the force.

“He started as a constable and rose in the ranks until he became commissioner in August 2016. He worked in various sections and has vast experience in police work.”

The petition goes on to say that, in the last three years, Cutajar made significant advances in working conditions for police officers, and there were also advances in the force’s investigative work.

Recently, Chris Fearne and Robert Abela were quoted as saying that they wish to remove Cutajar from his post, the petition continues. “This is a grave mistake for many reasons.”

“Some civil society groups had called on the commissioner to resign without a single valid reason.”

These calls seemed to have stopped when an MEP delegation that recently visited Malta and met with Cutajar said they were satisfied with the work carried out by the Malta police, it says. The petition quotes Dutch MEP Sophie int’ Veld, who said, “Yes they are working very hard, it is not over yet, and they are doing a professional job.”

But it appears that for Fearne and Abela this is not enough. “It seems that they were influenced by the calls from civil society and they consequently made declarations without reflecting about the consequences.” Cutajar “does not deserve” the message sent out by these declarations, the petition says.

The commissioner will be remembered for his successes and for how loved he was by the people serving under him, and not for trying to appease some person or another, it says.

In a note at the end, it is stated that the petition was started on a personal initiative and this does not mean that it has Cutajar’s permission.