News that Police Commissioner Gafá’s term has been extended for a further four years was far from unexpected, yet it still left us with a sense of disappointment. Once again, the government missed an opportunity to do the right thing, turn a fresh page, and start looking beyond its immediate interests. Instead, Robert Abela decided to dig his heels deeper and forge ahead with his ways.

The Opposition was clear on a number of occasions in stating why Commissioner Gafá should not have had his position renewed. Anyone can see that the commissioner is not fit for purpose, and his unbelievable ineptness, has resulted in enormous gaps in the administration of justice, law enforcement, not to say considerable frustration on the part of countless honest police officers whose wings have been completely clipped into inertness.

This should be fairly obvious, but I will repeat it clearly, (though I have zero hopes for the Labour media to ever quote me faithfully on this or any other matter).  My support and admiration for the vast majority of the Police Corps is uncompromising and complete. We are lucky to have dedicated officers, who go out of their line of duty, risking life and limb to be of service to their communities. We have prosecuting officials who spend their days working very hard to fight crime.  They are the soul of our Police Corps, and my issue is not with them. Unfortunately, they are limited to how effective they can ever be, and this is a shame.

Angelo Gafá is the commissioner who did absolutely nothing about the most enormous scandals that rocked our country to the core, such as Vitals, Electrogas, Pilatus Bank, the ringleaders behind the social benefits fraud, the architects behind the driving licences racket and so many other shocking cases.

We have come at an extreme where our Police Corps seems to be mistrusted even by our judiciary in crucial cases of a national importance, where they are withheld information. We deserve much better than this.

The Police Corps’ reputation has been severely compromised in the past years. This has resulted in lack of resources, a drop in numbers when it comes to recruitment and a sad lack of motivation – which I completely understand.

The Nationalist Party called for Gafá’s resignation in a number of instances when inquiries revealed his shortcomings. For some reason, the Labour government continued to bestow Gafá with its misguided trust. Now, just a few days ago, we called for his term not to be extended, and find someone new who would be more suitable for the job, yet our calls have fallen on deaf ears once again.

We believe that we have suitable people who would be excellent candidates for the job, some even from within the ranks of the corps itself. We need someone who can act on their own initiative. Someone who values the rule of law and that has the character to act when the need arises.

We hoped that this would have been a great opportunity for both sides of Parliament to come together and agree on a name, like we did with the President of the Republic, who I am pleased enjoys unprecedented support. We showed, then, that we could rise above our partisan lines, and really act in the best interest of the country.  In this case we could have chosen someone with the proper credentials who enjoys the trust of all the people and give a fresh injection of trust in one of the country’s most important institutions – which sadly has been ailing so badly since 2013.

Yet, sadly, the government side had other plans, to promote the status quo which evidently suits its purposes.

It is time to rise above this sorry situation and do the right thing. Through a Private Member’s bill, presented by myself on behalf of the Opposition, we proposed a mechanism, that would result in the appointment of an individual who enjoys the trust of all the Maltese. In fact, we proposed an amendment to the Constitution, for the appointment of the Police Commissioner to require a two-thirds majority of the House of Representatives, to truly reflect a cross-national agreement for such a sensitive appointment.

It is time to rise above party lines and do the right thing. Only then can we ever hope to guarantee the rule of law in Malta.

Dr Darren Carabott is the Opposition’s Shadow Minister for Home Affairs, Security and Reforms, and President of the Public Accounts Committee.