Malta’s institutions are being used to protect former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and those close to him, the Nationalist Party said on Monday.

In a statement, the party said that the fight against money laundering in Malta has to be shown to be done and not just by updating legislation in accordance with EU directives from time to time.

The statement, signed by MPs Karol Aquilina, Mario De Marco, and Kristy Debono, says that it is almost useless discussing amendments to the Money Laundering Act in Parliament – as will be the case tonight – when people like Keith Schembri, Konrad Mizzi, and those involved in Pilatus Bank are yet to be charged in court.

The statement reads that Robert Abela’s government has continued traversing the road that his predecessor Joseph Muscat followed when the fight against money laundering was supposedly intensified through legislative changes, but then when at the same time the country’s institutions ignored the gravest cases of corruption and money laundering.

“The lack of such action confirms how our country’s institutions are ruled by the Labour government and how they are being used to protect former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and those closest to him”, the statement reads.

It is a situation which continues to damage Malta’s reputation, especially in the financial services sector which thousands in the country depend upon, the PN said.

The party named inquiries into alleged passport kickbacks and Keith Schembri and Brian Tonna, the Electrogas project, and Pilatus Bank as inquiries where no steps had been taken against those involved.