Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil has rejected the offer made by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to nominate a former judge to head an inquiry – separate from the magisterial investigation – following the car chase that ended with Minister Manuel Mallia’s driver shooting in the direction of a car.

Dr Busuttil said he had taken note of the PM's decision to appoint a board of inquiry, but said that while earlier in the day Dr Muscat had called on him (Busuttil) to carry the political responsibility, it was Dr Muscat himself who had to do so.

"I have already said publicly, that the incident that took place means that Minister Manuel Mallia's position is no longer tenable and that you should have already taken action," Dr Busuttil wrote to the PM.

"This is because it is evident that certain maneuvers took place to hide the truth behind what happend. It is not acceptable, in our country, for a minister's driver to shoot at someone's car just because of an accident," said Dr Busuttil.

"It is also shocking, that four days later, this person has not appeared in court as if nothing had ever happened," wrote the opposition leader.

He said that the PM should know, just as much as he did, that the board of inquiry is useless because it cannot do the job that Dr Muscat was supposed to have done as Prime Minister - in other words, to make Minister Mallia bear the political responsibility of what had happened. The Opposition leader said that the only way forward was to dismiss Mallia and remove him from cabinet.

 He continued: "You yourself said that Mallia ought to be investigated over the incident and that you, as PM, should not have a cabinet minister in a decision making position, after this transgression."

He therefore  "invited" the PM to take responsibility and not try and palm it off elsewhere. "If Mallia is not removed as a Minister, you show that you are week in the face of abuse of power and are complicit to it," concluded Dr Busuttil.

Full letter

In reply, the Prime Minister noted the Opposition Leader's refusal to nominate a former judge to sit on the independent inquiry board to establish whether allegations Dr Busuttil is making about Dr Mallia are true.

In this way the Opposition Leader has put himself as prosecutor, judge and jury. He has decided that the allegation he has made is true and issued a verdict, the PM said.

The Prime Minister will not shirk his responsibilities and will move ahead with setting up an independent board to establish the facts.