Prime Minister Robert Abela used his five-year anniversary speech to blast opposition forces who he said “revel in hate”, as he said that new requests for magisterial inquiries against two of his ministers signify that “the red line has been crossed.”
Abela was speaking at a Labour Party rally in Kordin on Sunday in what was his first political event of 2025 on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of when he became Prime Minister.
Amongst several topics in a 40-minute speech, Abela spoke about recent requests for magisterial inquiries filed against, amongst others, Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri and – on Saturday – Economy Minister Silvio Schembri.
The requests were filed by former Nationalist Party MP Jason Azzopardi. Azzopardi is no longer a PN MP as he was not elected to Parliament in 2022 and holds no official post within the party, but Abela and several PL exponents have consistently tied him in as one of the PN’s “forces of darkness.”
“Other revel in hate… we saw them even during the holy days of Christmas. They said that they’d carry out a holy war against us and that’s what they’ve done. Their mind is only on throwing this person or that person into jail,” Abela told supporters.
He turned to both Camilleri and Schembri, who were among the whole of the PL’s parliamentary group sitting behind the Prime Minister at the event, and said that they and all those “who are targets of the politics of hate just because they carry out the government’s politics” will be defended.
“We are all with you, I am with you, and we will defend you against this persecution. An attack against you is an attack against all of us. With me, the red line is crossed only once, and now it has been crossed completely,” Abela said to raucous cheers from the crowd of supporters packed into the warehouse where the rally was held.
“I am going to be clear: no lies, no conjectures, no plots will be allowed to be pushed forward anymore,” he said.
He said that some can declare in writing before a court that they lied about a high ranking government official and on the same day still find refuge on the PN’s television station. “I am not even capable of counting how many times he has lied – and yet the PN keeps allowing him on,” Abela said.
The Prime Minister did not mention any names, but he was ostensibly referring to Jason Azzopardi. Azzopardi earlier this week retracted allegations he had made against Cabinet secretary Ryan Spagnol just as a libel case that Spagnol had filed against the former PN MP was to begin.
Azzopardi had claimed that Spagnol had sought bribes in exchange for residence permits as part of an ID card racket, and had said that Spagnol filing a libel case against him would open a “Pandora’s Box”. On Wednesday however Azzopardi presented a letter with a full apology to Spagnol, saying that he had confused him with someone “with a similar name.”
Abela said that he would not allow anyone to abuse of the justice system, and said that it was time for safeguards to be put in place so that those who lie about people and abuse of “inquisition-like laws which do not have the most basic of safeguards for victims” can also face justice.
“I cannot stand seeing people who are clearly innocent be dragged for years and years before the courts for nothing. When the case ends it’s useless saying ‘poor him, he was liberated and we put him through suffering for nothing’,” Abela said.
“Ten years up and down to court, the expenses, the trauma, the humiliation of knowing you’ve been accused for nothing, having to resign, having your salary taken – who will get that back? Can we allow the good reputation of people with integrity who gave loyal service to the state be broken by those who want to win power at all costs?,” he added.
“Our duty is to reform the law so it will stop people abusing of it to crucify other for nothing once and for all,” he said. Those reforms, he said, will see officials legally protected from personal liability for their work in office.
Throughout his speech, Abela reflected on the history of the Labour Party and on the past five years that he has served as its leader and as Prime Minister.
He said that it was the Labour Party which had turned Malta from a country of emigration to “the most dynamic economy in Europe”, despite what the “forces of darkness” had done to its leaders.
“They can try to stop us all they want, use all the obscure forces they can dream of, but as long as our heart keeps beating we are never going to stop being the shield for the small, voice for the weak, and strength for those who love our country,” Abela said.
He thanked three people in particular – Chris Fearne, who was Abela’s Deputy Prime Minister until last year before he faced criminal charges in relation to the hospitals case; Glenn Micallef, who is now European Commissioner; and Daniel Micallef, who was the party’s deputy leader and who Abela credited for the PL’s last general election manifesto.
On that manifesto, Abela ran through some of the promises that the PL had fulfilled: increases in pension, which he said now rack up to €70 per week since 2013; an increase in the children’s allowance which has now exceeded the manifesto promise; and “the biggest tax cut in our country’s history”, worth €140 million.
He said that the economic growth had lifted the equivalent of 10 people per week out of unemployment, and four people per week out of being dependent on social benefits.
“When the economy goes backwards, it’s the weakest who suffer the most,” Abela said, as he drew parallels to the PN – which he labelled as believers in austerity – and asked people to imagine what would have happened to the country had the PN come to power in 2019. “as some people wanted.”
Even during the pandemic, Abela said, the PN preferred to fight amongst each other rather than see how to contribute, and the PN’s response to rising oil and electricity prices today would have caused a stagnated economy.
“We aren’t perfect, but we did a lot and a lot of good. Let’s not let anyone erase that. Our heart beats in the right place – with the people and with Maltese and Gozitan families. I wasn’t perfect and there were moments where I could have done better, but you know that whenever it was needed, I took the necessary steps so that the government’s work could continue. The same cannot be said for others,” he said.
He referred to the recently published Labour Migration Policy, saying that this wasn’t the fruit of populism and that it is based around the principle that foreign workers can still come to Malta – but only where they are needed.
He said that the Labour Party movement “remains the biggest fond of ideas” and is a “party which is continually renewing because it is filled with people who love our country.”
“This party will remain a winning one because it will keep renewing itself and offering the hope of a better future. With unity there is strength,” Abela concluded.