Public inquiry: We cannot risk doubts after the investigation is concluded - Delia

Following the government’s announcement that a public independent inquiry into the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia is to take place, Opposition leader Adrian Delia said that there should be no doubts following the investigation.

During an interview on Net FM, Delia urged Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to meet Ms Caruana Galizia’s family to discuss their concerns about the appointed board of inquiry, as they have requested.

Delia also said that he had called a parliamentary group meeting to discuss the matter, “as there is a need to ensure that the investigation will lead to the truth.”

“When a person is killed, it is shocking,” he said, “but when it is a journalist who is killed, the voice of free expression in a country is also killed. In all democratic countries where a journalist has been killed – even at the same time as Caruana Galizia’s murder ¬– people resigned.”

They did not resign because they were the ones who had ordered the killing, he added, but because such incidents had happened under their watch. “In our country, no one has taken responsibly.”

Delia said the Opposition had asked, as a matter of urgency, for the mastermind(s) behind the assassination to be found, and questioned whether the government had done all it could to prevent the assassination – the reason for a public inquiry.

The Opposition had not asked for two criminal investigations, but for a public inquiry, Delia explained. After two years, because the prime minister’s back was against the wall and because of a deadline imposed by the Council of Europe, he was now doing what he should have done a long time ago, Delia said. “Nothing was stopping it from happening.”

Moving on to another controversial issue, Delia said that someone had changed the regulations to award himself €150,000 as a ‘golden handshake’, only to return to the same job a few weeks later. “This is theft from the Maltese people,” he added.

He also referred to the recent tension between the chief executive of the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) and its chief operating officer, noting that golden handshakes deprived the public of funds meant for other projects, as decided by Parliament.

“This is against the law. It is disrespectful to Parliament,” Delia said, adding that even government-appointed MFSA director Joe Brincat had noted that this was a criminal offence. The Nationalist Party is calling for an investigation into the matter and has written to the Public Accounts Committee.

Turning to the environment, Delia said that a number of challenges had turned into opportunities over the years. He noted that the government had a duty to explain its decisions to the public and lead by example.

He urged the government to be more environmentally conscience and reiterated his call for the declaration of a national climate emergency. Delia said that such an emergency should have been declared a long time ago and action now needed to be taken.

He stated that although the economy was growing, “we do not even know where to dispose of our waste.” He added: “The environment needs to be a central part of our development, and waste can be used as a source of energy, as has already been done in other countries.”

“In our country, there is an attack on trees. This is crazy!” he said. “We need to increase the number of trees, as they are our lungs.”

Delia said it was surreal that while a new school had been opened each year under the last Nationalist administration, the Labour government was adding more containers.

He also criticised the government’s failure to attract more students to the teaching profession, stating that while there were 82 teaching vacancies, the education minister was incapable of recruiting more people to the teaching profession. He put this down to a lack of respect for teaching professionals and poor wages.

“What is the country investing in if not our children, who are the future,” Delia asked. “The PN wants to give out children the best education,” he added, “but this does not mean simply providing physical resources, but also educators.”

In a country with few natural resources, businesses and people created opportunities, Delia said. “What is being created, however, does not allow economic success to flow down to the people.” The solution, he explained, was not hand-outs funded by the taxpayer, such as rebate cheques. “Instead, vulnerable people need to be identified and given the right tools to improve their lives.”

The Opposition leader accused the government of having lost its ‘social compass’, with 70,000 citizens on the brink of poverty. He noted that a fourth of pensioners were also living on the poverty line and should not be forced to work.

“We have an obligation to ensure they enjoy a decent life,” he said. “We are no longer a society that cares, but we want to see a society in which those already doing well continue to do so, but with a sense of responsibility towards those who are vulnerable.”