Repubblika on Friday said that now is not the right time for Parliament to stop working, after government adjourned sittings a week earlier than planned.

In a statement, the NGO said it noted that despite Prime Minister Robert Abela's “empty remarks” about the supposed "checks and balances" between the Constitutional branches, the government has now chosen to give Parliament an extensive recess. Parliament was supposed to stop sittings on 22 May but did so a week earlier.

“This is a delicate and potentially dangerous time for the functioning of our institutions. The Courts are being asked to examine alleged criminal behaviour of current and former high-ranking government officials. At the same time, they are under obscene attack by the Prime Minister and the government party,” Repubblika said.

The organisation said that it is the duty of the third branch, meaning Parliament, to oversee the government’s behaviour and take all necessary measures to ensure that the government allows the institutions to function and protects them from threats.

“We are concerned to hear the increasingly radicalized and threatening speech from former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat who, instead of preparing his defense like any other person accused before the Courts, is using his political power to discredit and intimidate the courts,” it said, adding that Abela is aiding him, rather than standing up and defending the courts.

Repubblika said that now, the government has closed Parliament’s doors to ensure that no institution has the means to stop or even mitigate the “excesses.”

It said that Abela is silencing Parliamentarians, especially those from his own party, who, out of loyalty to democracy, might dare to express some doubt about his conduct.

“We express our condemnation that at such a delicate time, we do not even have a Parliament to deliberate on how to protect the rule of law in our country,” Repubblika said.

It said that the premature closure of Parliament is another serious sign of the spread of autocracy and the erosion of democracy.