The Nationalist Party said Thursday that the country’s institutions had remained silent after testimony in court implicated former Minister Chris Cardona "in the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia".

On Wednesday, Vince Muscat, who serving time following an admission to his involvement in the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017 told a court that, three years earlier, he had driven George Degiorgio to Portomaso to meet with then minister Chris Cardona and discuss a €150,000 hit on the journalist. The 2014 plot did not materialise, but the journalist was killed in 2017.

In a statement signed by Karol Aquilina, the PN said that it is shocking that no action has been taken by the institutions following such as testimony.

Such a silence confirms that, under PM Robert Abela, the same culture of impunity that reigned under Joseph Muscat is still in place, the PN said.

This culture of impunity must stop and be replaced by a culture of truth and justice, the PN said.

Instead of interfering in their work, the government should see that the recommendations made in the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder public inquiry are implemented in the shortest time possible.

It is only if this happens that people like Muscat, Keith Schembri, Chris Cardona and Konrad Mizzi will no longer remain protected by the country’s institutions.