Shadow home affairs minister Jason Azzopardi said in parliament this evening that it did not make any sense that a 71 year old was reinstated in the police force as a reserve constable in a police station but a sixty two year old’s application was turned down just because the individual belonged to tal-Gakketta Blu.

‘Tal-Gakketta blu’ was a ‘security’ unit within the PN during the 1980s, which were referred to as PN ‘enforcers’.

Gejtu Cuschieri, also known as 'Gejtu l-Hajta', who formerly worked as a police officer, was the founder of the unit.

While on the subject of the Police Force, Dr Azzopardi asked Minister Manuel Mallia once again why the Police Commissioner nor the government replied to The Malta Independent questions to clarify matters tied to an article published in the Malta Independent regarding the withdrawal of assault charges on police officers.

Yesterday, Dr Azzopardi asked why the government has yet to publish a press release given that a long time has passed since this paper posed the question.

Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis replied on behalf of Dr Mallia (since Dr Mallia is abroad on duty), that the question posed by Dr Azzopardi was simply a déjà vu as the same question was posed by Dr Azzopardi yesterday.

Dr Azzopardi said that it is absurd that the home affairs minister did not give a reaction in 24 hours.