Prime Minister Robert Abela said that the Daphne Caruana Galizia inquiry should not be prolonged even further than it already has, as it will only cause more damage.

The Prime Minister was being interviewed on Sunday by TV presenter Peppi Azzopardi on ONE TV.

Asked whether he thinks such a statement creates some kind of conflict, Abela remarked that the inquiry has been already extended, however "we need to put a close to this episode."

He explained that "the terms of the inquiry have been set both by the government and by the relatives of Daphne Caruana Galizia. Among those agreed terms, it was stated that the inquiry will be closed within nine months, therefore closing in August 2020, however this did not happen."

Abela explained that "the three judges asked for an extension until December and I gave it to them."

Abela has been under fire over this particular issue. The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation and other NGOs like Repubblika had shot down the previous announcement that the PM would only give the one extension, arguing that the inquiry should take as long as it needs. "The Terms of Reference for the public inquiry are clear. It is within the state-appointed board's remit, and not the government's, to decide when its work is complete. If the board decides it needs more time to fulfil its remit, the deadline of the public inquiry is automatically extended," the Foundation had written.

Abela was then asked about his vision regarding for politics to be looked at as something positive, despite all that has been going on.

Abela remarked that the public will trust a politician if one is serious, transparent and acts as an example to others.

During the interview, Azzopardi brought up the COVID-19 situation in the country and the re-opening of schools. Back in March the country went through a partial lockdown, and this happened while the number of positive Covid-19 figures were far lower than they are today.

Asked about how the government is pushing for schools to re-open when cases are higher than they were months ago, Abela said that when, back in March, the whole world was hit with a virus, no one knew anything about.

"At the time we did not know how to handle the situation and had no idea what we needed to do in order to control the impact of the virus on people's health and on the economy. Therefore, a partial lockdown was deemed necessary in order to keep everyone as safe as possible," he said.

Abela added that "today, we have months of experience in controlling the situation as we have learnt more about the virus."

Every government around the world must ensure that the lives and the livelihood of their people are kept as safe as possible, he said. 

The government is keeping track of the situation on a daily basis and although many teachers, parents, unions and other entities are concerned, the educational development of our children remains a priority, Abela said.

The Prime Minister emphasised that, whether children will receive their education through online means or whether it will be done physically at school, it is crucial that schools re-open. "We must all understand this, we have the development and education of a generation at stake."

The Prime Minister stressed that everyone should abide by all basic health principles and regulations.

Speaking as a father who also has a daughter of his own, Abela remarked that he wants his child to attend school in a safe way, as children will be negatively affected if they are not sent to school.

Azzopardi made reference to several concerns posed by the Malta's Union of Teachers (MUT) regarding the physical re-opening of schools, as the union had said that they should not open.

Abela reiterated by saying that, although he understands these concerns, it still remains crucial for schools to re-open.

He said that, "as a government, we do not want to force parents to send their children to school if they do not feel comfortable, however, they will instead be given a choice - to send their children physically to school or to follow an online learning system."

Abela confirmed that parents who do not send their children to school will not be fined.

"The public needs to adapt to this new reality as life must go on. The only thing that will change the situation is the vaccine, but until then we need to find a way to live our lives and maintain a balance between people's health and their livelihoods," he said.

He expressed his belief that once the vaccine is developed and available for use, this should not be mandatory. However, he confirmed that if the health authorities will deem it to be safe, "I will take the vaccine."

With regards to the issue of migration, Abela said that as a country Malta has done its best to reduce the number of immigrants coming to the islands.

He said that during August, which is considered to be a peak month for immigrants arriving to Malta, the number of cases fell sharply this year.  

"Our country is full up and we are unable to accommodate any more people, therefore, our priority will remain to reduce the number of immigrants in Malta."

In addition, Azzopardi made reference to a number of conditions within the Corradino Correctional Facility and highlighted a particular case where another prisoner died by suicide.

Abela disagreed with how the facility was described and said: although the place is not perfect, it has made giants steps in improving and moving forward in a positive way.