Prime Minister Robert Abela should be putting the interests of the nation first, not those of his predecessor Joseph Muscat, Repubblika President Robert Aquilina said Monday.

Addressing a press conference outside the PM’s office at Castille, Aquilina said that it is worrying that Muscat is “threatening to continue to shame Malta around the world.”

“His intention to contest the June elections is an act of bullying on the courts and the Maltese state”, he said.

Last week, Muscat did not rule out contesting the June election and Abela said that Labour;s door was open to the idea.

The responsibility for all this falls on Robert Abela's shoulders, who instead of standing up against Joseph Muscat's pressure, chose to yield and now is ready disrupt a country to allow him to remain in power.

Aquilina said that Abela did not become Prime Minister under normal circumstances, but rather after the resignation of Muscat following a public inquiry that established that the State had responsibility in the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

“The public inquiry established that Joseph Muscat had undermined institutions and created a climate of impunity that allowed the heinous assassination of one of us to take place,” said Aquilina.

The Repubblika president said that now not even Abela is worthy of being Prime Minister as the country deserves one “who puts its (Malta’s) interests first and foremost”.

With this in mind, the NGO is urging the nation to join its forces and “resist this attack on our country and on our democracy.”

“Now is the time to step up our efforts and do everything necessary to save our country from the clutches of the corrupted clique and give it a dignified future.”

Following the public inquiry into the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia, which concluded that Muscat had some responsibility for the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia, Robert Abela had asked for forgiveness.

“Today, everyone in Malta and Gozo knows that Robert Abela's apology was only a matter of political convenience,” he said.

In this regard, the NGO said that it had appealed the PM “to distance himself from Joseph Muscat”.

What remains of our democracy is under threat, Aquilina said.

He said that from what Abela said – that the inquiry into the hospitals deal will be published to cause harm to Labour before the election – it means that he and Muscat are in possession of information that they should not have. How does Abela know that the inquiry conclusions will cause harm to Labour, Aquilina asked.

The Prime Minister is doing his best to undermine the inquiry, he said.