Prime Minister Joseph Muscat must remove Manuel Mallia from minister; if he does not, then he is a weak PM, Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil said this afternoon.

Addressing a press conference following the incident in which shots were fired at a car by the minister's driver, Dr Busuttil said that "I am not asking for Mallia's resignation. I am asking for the PM to remove him. If not, then he is a weak Prime Minister, one who does not show that he is in control of his ministers, including Manuel Mallia."

Dr Busuttil said that Dr Mallia's driver showed excessive use of force in the way he reacted to the incident. Shooting towards a car because of a crash is not acceptable. "We do not live in the Wild West," he said, and the incident is a reflection of the government's attitude towards some people who can get away with anything.

He said that the government's statement issued soon after the incident carried lies which it then later try to cover up. The government did not say the truth immediately, he said, and then tried to patch things up when the truth started to emerge. It had said that the shots were fired in the air when this was not the case.

The police are there not to protect Minister Mallia, but to protect the public, Dr Busuttil said.

In reply, the government said that the initial DOI statement was based on the first information received. It later resulted that the shots had not been fired in the air as a warning.

Minister Mallia had corrected the issue at the press conference he convened in the morning.

 

Ministry tried to cover up incident - Roberta Metsola

In a statement, PN MEP Roberta Metsola said: "The people of Malta and Gozo deserve to know the whole truth as to what exactly happened yesterday when the armed policeman driver of the Minister for Home Affairs opened fire after a British man hit the Minister's parked, empty car.

In a democratic society it is unheard of that Ministers' drivers give chase and open fire after someone has caused damage to a parked car and driven off. It is even worse that the Ministry obviously tried to cover it up by claiming  that only "warning shots" were fired into the air, when reports have clearly indicated that bullets struck the British man's car. This clearly shows that the bullets were fired in the occupied car's direction as it was driving away. There was no clearly no threat to the life of the policeman performing driving duties, and that therefore there was absolutely no proportionality or justification for the shooting.

As a Member of the European Parliament's Committee for Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, this is something that gives huge rise for concern. The Prime Minister and the Minister for Home Affairs need to immediately tell the public the whole truth as to what happened last night. We deserve to know, how many other Ministerial drivers are out there bearing arms? What training have they been given?

It is clear that, as Simon Busuttil has just said, Joseph Muscat has lost control over his minister and lacks the nerve to replace him.

Prior to acceding to the EU Malta had to reach the criteria that allowed us to join including guaranteeing the stability of our institutions in order to safeguard democracy, the rule of law and human rights.  It is sad to now see that Malta has taken a step back towards the days when Ministers' friends and drivers ruled through intimidation, and when "warning shots" were the order of the day. The concept of proportional response is a cornerstone of proper law enforcement in any EU Member State. The rule of law is sacrosanct and must always be respected"