Sources within the government have confirmed to The Malta Independent that Commissioner of Police Michael Cassar has expressed his wish to step down from his post after only a year and four months in office. Mr Cassar is citing health problems.
The Commissioner was recently on leave, travelling with his wife, when he returned to Malta and was admitted to hospital suffering from chest pains.
Sources who met the Police Commissioner over recent days have told The Malta Independent that he had repeatedly said, “I need to take care of myself.”
Other sources within the Police Force, however, have told this newsroom that one of the main reasons behind Mr Cassar’s desire to step down is that a new rank will very soon be introduced to the Force: a Chief Executive Officer.
It seems that the introduction of a CEO to the Force will place new and undue pressure on the position of Commissioner, who will have to share the Force’s leadership with an ‘outsider’ who, like the CEOs of other public organisations, will report directly to the minister responsible.
Among the other reasons the Commissioner may be considering leaving is the wave of scandals that have recently hit the government and the perceived inaction on the part of the police. The Police Commissioner, although respected in the political community, has been receiving pressure from the media and the Opposition for having not acted on cases such as the GaffarenaOld Mint Street scandal and the involvement of Minister Konrad Mizzi and the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Keith Schembri in the Panama Papers - the world’s largest information leak that has exposed how the wealthy and the corrupt hide their money in tax havens such as Panama.
Should Michael Cassar, who had been appointed in December 2014, leave his post as Commissioner, he would be the fourth since the last general election to do so.
His resignation would follow the removal by the new government of John Rizzo in April 2013, the resignation of Peter Paul Zammit in July 2014 and the forced resignation of acting Commissioner Ray Zammit in December 2014 after being accused of negligence in the case of the shooting incident involving the driver of former Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia.
No pressure on Cassar - Minister
Speaking on 'Ghandi xi'nghid' on Radju Malta earlier today, Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela did not deny the TMI report and said Mr Cassar was on long medical leave.
Mr Abela said the post of Police Commissioner was a very important one and could not be left vacant until Mr Cassar recovered. He insisted, however, that the government was not putting pressure on the commissioner to resign. That decision rests with Mr Cassar, he said.
Speaking to journalists in Zejtun this morning, Mr Abela said Mr Cassar had not handed in a resignation letter. He also denied that the police commissioner wanted to resign over the impending creation of the police CEO post. The Minister also denied that government officials were pressuring Cassar into not investigating officials named in connection with the Panama Papers.