Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil this morning called on the country to unite behind the Maltese flag and rid Malta of Joseph Muscat’s government.

Speaking in Siggiewi this morning, Dr Busuttil said the last meeting at this particular party club was held shortly after the local council elections, which showed that the PN had cut the electoral gap by half. “It gave us hope that we could do this and the crowd here before me today also has hope that the PN can do this. But at the end of the day we are not here for the success of the PN, but the success of the country, of our people.”

Dr Busuttil said the country wa gripped by a political and constitutional crisis the likes of which we have probably never seen before. For the first time ever the Prime Minister was under investigation.

“The independent media, all the newspapers, are calling for Muscat’s resignation,” Dr Busuttil said. “For the PL Sunday newspaper this is ‘game over for the Opposition Leader.’ But judgement is in the hands of the people.”

Dr Busuttil called on the people to join forces against the government and attend this afternoon’s protest in Valletta. “Let us all shoulder this responsibility together and get the country out of this hole this government has driven it into. Let us all unite together behind the flag of our country. Stand up and respond to your country’s call. Let us show that the people want to take back this country from the clutches of the clique.” 

PN Assistant Secretary General Jean Pierre Debono said the country urgently needed a leadership that would clean up the country’s reputation. “Up until a few years ago the country was proud of the reputation given to it by Borg Olivier, Fenech Adami and Gonzi and I have no doubt that it will soon be proud of the reputation given to it by Simon Busuttil.”

He blasted the police for failing to take immediate action at Pilatus Bank soon after Daphne Caruana Galizia’s claims surfaced.

He also claimed that people close to the government had shown up in a white car and were seen going inside the bank after the chairman had left with the suitcases. “What were they doing there? Who let them in?”

He said the Boy Scouts would have done a better job than the police. The police motto has become ‘Joseph dirige nos.’

He also insisted that Brian Tonna of Nexia BT should have been put under a serious police investigation. This should have happened a year ago, when the Panama Papers were revealed.

Joseph Muscat did not suspend himself pending the investigation but the people would suspend Joseph Muscat when they vote him out in the next election, Mr Debono said.

 

PN Deputy Leader Mario de Marco said the financial services sector was crucial for the economy and for the thousands of people for whom it provided jobs. Malta’s reputation is at a crossroad because of the dark shadow cast upon it by the country’s highest institutions. He also spoke about the police force, saying he was disappointed that the force’s reputation had suffered a great blow. He called on serious police officers to carry out their duties, and not bow down to political pressure.

He said people were now referring to the Rapid Intervention Unit as the Rabbit Intervention Unit or the Non-Rapid Intervention Unit but this was no joke. The current police commissioner, Lawrence Cutajar, is the fifth police chief in a four-year PL legislature.

Dr de Marco said the Prime Minister had admitted making a mistake. “Opening companies in Panama were not a simple mistake. Leaving Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri in their place was not a mistake. The inaction by the police was not a mistake. The resigation of Police commissioner and FIAU head were not a mistake. These were not mistakes – they were intentional, to cover up this mess.”

The PM, he said, cannot be in charge of a police force that is investigating himself. “There is only one honourable way – the PM must resign.” 

PL reacts

In a reaction, the Labour Party insisted that Simon Busuttil is "false" and "is going to be holding a demonstration on something which does not exist." 

The press release goes on to say that "yesterday, Simon Busuttil was saying that proof from the safe were inside the bag, however, it was then made known that the safe never existed and the version changed saying the proof was removed a year ago."

"Simon Busuttil threw mud without one piece of proof," they said in a press release. "The only piece of proof that got published today is from Brian Tonna which shows black on white that it is his company."