Police Commissioner Peter Paul Zammit has resigned and will be replaced by Raymond Zammit as acting police commissioner, the government confirmed this evening.
In a terse statement issued at 6.47pm, the government said that “with the consensus of Peter Paul Zammit a decision has been taken for him not to remain commissioner. He will be given an administrative role to be responsible for the coordination of security during international events that will be taking place in the country in the months and years to come.”
In the coming weeks, a reorganisation of the police corps will be taking place, the government said.
In this period of time, the government has appointed Raymond Zammit, until now deputy police commissioner, as Acting Police Commissioner.
Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia will be making a ministerial declaration in Parliament on 9 July.
The Malta Independent broke the news on 17 May that the police commissioner Peter Paul Zammit was to step down. The reports at the time had been denied, but speculation about the commissioner's resignation continued to persist.
(Peter Paul Zammit is no longer police commissioner)
Mr Zammit had been named commissioner soon after the change of government in March 2013.
A long meeting was held at Castille in the presence of Mr Zammit on Wednesday, fuelling speculation that his resignation was imminent.
In the past few weeks Mr Zammit’s absence from important events such as the setting up of a police union led to speculation about his position.
The setting up of an inquiry over why police charges against a man who assaulted police officers were dropped – a story that was also broken by The Malta Independent – as well as the latest development in the John Dalli-Giovanni Kessler case did not help the police commissioner’s position.
The Malta Independent had carried a story on 17 May about the probability of the police commissioner's resignation. Another story confirming this report was carried last Sunday 29 June.
Police commissioner likely to step down
TMI was right: Police Commissioner will go
In a statement, the Nationalist Party said that after the publication of the OLAF letter with regard to John Dalli, in which it was revealed that Mr Peter Paul Zammit did not cooperate in breach of European law, the police commissioner has now resigned.
This meant that he had shouldered his responsibility, but this has to be shared by the Prime Minister who had declared that he had personally appointed him as police chief. Who will carry the political responsibility for what happened, the PN asked.
The PN wished the acting police commissioner Ray Zammit well and advised him not to fall to the political pressure as his predecessor.