Addressing party activists this morning, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said he will take the necessary decisions in the best interest of the public, once all facts regarding the incident involving Manuel Mallia’s former driver are established.
“The situations of the past weeks have been difficult. However, we will come out of it strong. We are well aware that the public deserves better, and are ready to make amendments where necessary. Once all the facts are established, I will take decisions, in the best interest of the public. We will not preach perfectionism, and we will acknowledge our mistakes, “ he said.
“The public however, does not only expect improvements by the government, but also by the Opposition. For a week, the opposition has been preaching honest politics. Simon Busuttil yesterday told me to ‘say the truth and nothing but the truth,’ and meanwhile, he was lying himself. He now needs to shoulder responsibility for be dishonest.”
"Two independent journals have now published the full version of the call transcripts, and it is evident that the PN’s media has left much of it out," he said.
A recording of a three-way phone call after the shooting incident involving Manuel Mallia's driver shows that Acting Police Commissioner Ray Zammit told the Prime Minister's communications chief, Kurt Farrugia, that "warning shots" had been fired. However, the reference to "warning shots" was not mentioned by the PN.
The inquiry will be finalised tomorrow, and the Prime Minister promised to make the report public.
Louis Grech says PN's media published selective transcripts
Deputy Prime Minister Louis Grech this morning said that the Nationalist Party’s media has selected which transcripts to publish, from the call logs of the night of the incident involving Manuel Mallia’s driver. “It is up to the public whether to believe their statements or not," he said.
A recording of a three-way phone call, published by independent media, shows that Acting Police Commissioner Ray Zammit told the Prime Minister's communications chief, Kurt Farrugia, that "warning shots" had been fired. However, the reference to "warning shots" was not mentioned by the PN.
“Political power brings with it political responsibility.The Labour Party is not perfect, there’s more to be done, however we will not act in the same manner the Nationalist Administration did, we will be responsible. I am certain that the Prime Minister will not be afraid of taking decisions, no matter how difficult it is, however we need to evaluate the situation first, and not opt for knee jerked reactions.”
The deputy prime minister reminded the crowd that in today’s edition in the Sunday Times of Malta, the Prime Minister admitted that he would have started the magisterial inquiry before if he could.
He added that while this particular case should be given the attention it deserves, the Nationalist Party has chosen to focus solely on this, and to forget about the economic improvement the government has brought forward.
Labour Party statement
In a press statement issued this afternoon, the Labour Party hit out at Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil for being dishonest and manipulative. The statement said, that the PN’s media only published part of the call logs, even if it had access to the full call logs. “Dr Busuttil chose to remove parts that were not in his favour,” it said.
“Instead of addressing journalists, today Dr Busuttil decided to only address the PN’s journalist over the radio, and used air time to attack individuals personally.”