The Nationalist Party and civil society NGO Repubblika have called on the government to cancel Lawrence Cutajar's contract after claims that he tipped off middleman Melvin Theuma about his impending arrest.

Times of Malta said on Sunday that previously unheard recordings have been uncovered by Europol, in which Theuma claims that Cutajar, then police commissioner, had met with an associate of his.

Theuma has been granted a presidential pardon in return for information on the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia. He was allegedly the middleman between Yorgen Fenech and the three hitmen.

Cutajar, who resigned in January, was given a contract as a government consultant on public safety and logistics. He earns €31,000 a year for the part-time job. The former commissioner told the Times that he is unaware of the recordings and has not been approached by the authorities on the matter.

In a statement, the PN said Cutajar's position is no longer tenable and the PM should sack him immediately.

It said that, instead of fighting crime, Cutajar had "associated himself with people involved in the murder and passed on secret information which he obtained as police chief."
Cutajar "betrayed" his colleagues in the police force as well as the country, it said.
Repubblika also said the PM should terminate Cutajar's contract with immediate effect.

It also noted that the recording had been uncovered by Europol. While the Maltese police are capable of investigating, the force has been undermined by "Joseph Muscat and his friends" to the extent that it is unable to investigate the "filth we are swimming in."

It also referred to claims levelled against Acting Commissioner Carmelo Magri in a Lovin Malta interview on Friday.

Repubblika said the Prime Minister and the Attorney General should accept the call for a joint Malta Police and Europol investigation into the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia and the corruption linked with it.