Prime Minister Robert Abela, said that the sentencing of the two men accused of being the triggermen for the car bombing of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was “another step towards justice”.

The two men accused, Alfred and George Degiorgio, pleaded guilty to the crime and were later sentenced to 40 years in prison on Friday.

Abela said this on the 5th year anniversary of Caruana Galizia’s death (16 October 2017).

“Daphne’s murder was the worst episode in our country’s history,” Abela said.

He emphasised that the government and society cannot forget this moment, instead, it should be an event which the government must learn from. He said that this action does not symbolise what the government believes in.

“We cannot let something like this ever happen again, this is not acceptable,” he said.

However, following the sentencing last Friday, he said that “justice is taking its course.”

He took the opportunity to praise the reforms which have strengthened the impartiality and independence of the courts.

“As legislatures, we send a clear message that we want effective and strong justice,” he said.

He said that the amendments in the Criminal Code will lead to no one being allowed to try to abuse the administration of justice.

Abela gave this speech on Sunday morning, during a political activity in Zebbug.

Initially, Abela emphasised that this government offers stability in the economy, especially because it has the largest economic growth in Europe.

He also took the opportunity to praise the private sector for striving during these tough times and using the support that the government offers. He also praised the private sector and the unions for constantly improving workers’ conditions.

He said that besides economic stability the government needs to work towards social stability. However, he assured that the government was placing people’s quality of life first.

He said that although it is important that we discuss the current crises of inflation and the war in Ukraine, one cannot forget other crucial topics such as education, health, work and/or migration.

In reference to this, he mentioned the Cabinet meeting held at the St. Nicolas Secondary School College in Dingli where the government announced that it will be offering more financial support to disadvantaged school children.

“Nobody should be left behind,” Abela said.

Furthermore, he mentioned how there are 163,000 families who are homeowners. This reflects an increase of 12,000 more families that own homes from before the pandemic in 2019.

He also said the increase stems from a large increase in single parents owning a home. This went from 4,600 to 5,200 single parents owning a home.

During Abela’s speech, he also chose to criticise the Nationalist Party for fighting amongst themselves.

“How can we trust them if they are fighting amongst themselves? This is an opposition that is going from bad to worse,” he said.

Finally, he announced that on the day of the budget there will be promises to support pensioners.