Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri has always shown seriousness, correctness and integrity in his work which is why he has received full backing from the government, Prime Minister Robert Abela told Parliament in a defence of his embattled minister.

Abela gave a ministerial statement to Parliament on Sunday’s 200kg drug heist – the second day that he attempted to do so after Monday’s sitting was punctuated by interruptions, insults, and allegations hurled from both sides.

Tuesday’s sitting was only marginally better: the Prime Minister was frequently interrupted by several PN MPs.

During his ministerial statement, Abela said that the administrative inquiry that the government had called will be led by retired judge Geoffrey Valencia and referred to the news that the police had made some arrests in connection with the case and also recovered a portion of the drugs which had been stolen.

“In this case, what must prevail is that those responsible for what happened face justice. Some individuals tried to ridicule the Police Commissioner, the same Commissioner who achieved success in the investigation which he personally became involved in within 48 hours of the incident,” Abela said.

PN leader Bernard Grech meanwhile responded to this insinuation by saying that it was an attack on journalists.

In a heated exchange in parliament, the Prime Minister and PN MP Karol Aquilina exchanged remarks wherein Aquilina again stated that Abela is “friends with criminals” at which point Abela commented that it is the Opposition who are friends with criminals and demanded that the statement be retracted.

To substantiate his remark, Abela referred to the infamous pardon granted by a Nationalist government in the 1990s to Brazilian drug trafficker Francesco de Assis Queiroz, as he read for a letter by the Attorney General of the time Anthony Borg Barthet expressing his surprise at how the government had granted a pardon to a “merchant of death.”

The sitting was again punctuated by more interruptions, with Speaker Anglu Farrugia this time being more inclined at allowing the Prime Minister space to speak.  That attracted critique from the PN benches, with Aquilina at one point telling the Speaker “I doubt how much you think” after a back and forth.

“Byron Camilleri showed properness and full seriousness which is why I expressed my faith in him on Sunday and why the Cabinet did too this morning.  He was always extremely professional in his work and there has been unprecedented investment in his sector,” Abela said.

He cited an NSO survey which showed that 90% of the public trust the police force, and said that the police also had a success rate of over 90% in the fight against drugs in the last year.

Responding, PN leader Bernard Grech said that he was disappointed with the Speaker for how he had handled the Prime Minister’s statement and also called Abela “weak.”

He said that Byron Camilleri was still politically responsible for the theft and therefore he should answer for it.

“In this country, irrespective of what happens, nobody appears to be responsible for anything,” he said, as he said that Cabinet’s seal of faith doesn’t mean much when both Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri had received its support.

Several questions were posed by PN MPs, ranging from what it would take for Camilleri to have to resign given past scandals concerning his portfolio to whether any criminal cases had now been compromised because of the theft.

Abela said that no cases had been compromised and the inquiring magistrate from the initial drug bust had actually ordered the drugs to be destroyed.

Plenty of arguing followed as Abela said that the PN had once tried to get AFM soldiers sent to prison for their rescue of migrants – a claim that PN MPs, particularly Adrian Delia who was party leader at the time, vehemently contested.  The Speaker said he would issue a ruling on the matter.

Abela also called the allegations of a racket concerning fake identity cards a “bare-faced lie.”

PN MP Karol Aquilina meanwhile said that the Prime Minister’s security detail had entered Parliament in the Stranger’s Gallery despite not being allowed to do so, and called this an “act of intimidation” – an assertion greeted by jeers from the government benches.

Abela finally accused the PN of hypocrisy, noting that no minister had resigned when in 2011 41% of prisoners tested positive for drugs. “It was anarchy and a jungle back then, but no minister resigned,” he said.

After the Prime Minister brought his statement to a close, Grech said that he was tabling a motion for the parliamentary sitting to be adjourned to Wednesday so that Abela’s ministerial statement and a vote of no confidence in Camilleri could be debated.

Farrugia ruled that the motion of no confidence per Parliament’s Standing Orders needed to have three days’ notice in order to be discussed and therefore he could not accept Grech’s request.