Nationalist MPs walked out of Parliament on Monday afternoon, with Opposition Leader Adrian Delia saying that the PN will not be participating in Parliamentary work as long as Joseph Muscat remains Prime Minister.
The declaration was made at the start of the sitting.
Yesterday, Delia said, Muscat announced that he will step down from his post sometime in January.
“Joseph Muscat wants to keep manipulating the police investigation to save himself and his best friend, former OPM Chief of Staff Keith Schembri. For the Opposition, this is not acceptable.
"The Opposition will be leaving immediately and will not participate in Parliamentary work as long as Joseph Muscat remains in the post of Prime Minister.”
As this happened, yells of ‘Mafia’ were heard, and fake money was tossed by Nationalist Party MPs.
Such slogans and the fake cash have been used by protesters over the past days.
Speaking to journalists, Delia said the PN will not take part in parliamentary debates while Muscat keeps harming the country and persisting in protecting his own interests and those of people around him.
"We won't engage in Parliament with a government presided over by Joseph Muscat as Prime Minister."
Asked happens if the PM refuses to resign, Delia said many constituted bodies, unions and associations are telling Muscat to step down and stop harming the country. "Muscat must act not in the interests of the Labour Party but in the interests of the nation," he said.
Delia was speaking against the backdrop of another anti-corruption protest outside the House. The protest is taking place despite the numerous metal barriers set up by the police earlier today in Freedom Square.
Despite the Opposition walkout, the government has started with the debate on the investigation into the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat was the first to speak but had to stop for a few minutes when shouting was heard from the stranger's gallery.
This newsroom is informed that PN Deputy Leader David Agius complained loudly when he was stopped from entering the gallery accompanied by eight members of civil society groups Repubblika and Occupy Justice. These members wanted to follow the debate, Agius said. According to him, the Speaker decided that they were not allowed inside. Agius insisted that, according to the standing orders specifically say that people can only be thrown out of the stranger's gallery if they misbehave.