"We cannot go on like this," President of the NGO Repubblika Robert Aquilina said during a protest in front of Parliament on Monday.

This comes after the son of Daphne Caruana Galizia had written to Speaker Anglu Farrugia calling for his resignation for failing to really reprimand Labour MP Rosianne Cutajar. Caruana Galizia took the Speaker to task, saying that he had simply asked the Clerk to send a letter to Cutajar to inform her that the standards committee had decided to reprimand her, meaning that the former PS was not actually reprimanded, let alone sanctioned.

The Speaker then sent Caruana Galizia a legal letter penned by Professor Ian Refalo. The lawyer said the Speaker was rebutting the "unfounded" allegations, and invited Caruana Galizia to brush up on the law, saying that he should not have written directly to the Speaker.

"We're fed up of hearing about police officials, officials within the government, politicians, State officials, Ministers and Members of Parliament serving a Mafia rather than our country," said the NGO's president.

Aquilina reminded the public of the undeclared cash Rosianne Cutajar was found guilty of by the Standards Committee, and despite this, "Speaker Farrugia failed to carry out his duties in reprimanding her." This was not the first time that Speaker Farrugia served as a shield for the wrongdoings of others, said Aquilina. He added that Farrugia failed to hold a discussion in Parliament over Edward Zammit Lewis's scandal a few months back. Moreover, "Farrugia defended Minister Carmelo Abela even after he was found guilty by the Standards Commissioner."

Aquilina also pointed out that Farrugia refused to call former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to serve witness in front of the Standards Committee for his involvement with Konrad Mizzi.

Aquilina addressed Prime Minister Robert Abela, saying that Malta's government cannot be trusted while corrupt individuals still sit in Parliament. He added that the protest is not an impediment to businesses during the holidays, but a vital right in a democratic country to highlight corruption.

Activist Martina Farrugia said that Malta deserves better than the "corrupt entities such as Konrad Mizzi, Joseph Muscat, Owen Bonnici, Glenn Beddingfield and Rosianne Cutajar," and added that had appropriate sanctions been given to these individuals, Malta would not have been added to the FATF's greylist, and consequently would have resulted in fewer protests. 

Photos Giuseppe Attard