Dear Ministers,

What happened last Tuesday rocked our beloved country to its core. It sent shockwaves through the very soul of all that is dear to us, opening a Pandora's box of questions, which, as at the time of writing, have remained unanswered.

I am of course referring to the contents of the letter sitting Judge Lawrence Mintoff wrote under oath and sent to the President, the Prime Minister and you, members of Cabinet, and in which he made an explosive gust of accusations against Prime Minister Robert Abela.

You have, I am sure, read the letter, so I won't stay wasting your time going into the detail of its contents. However, the situation is serious enough that it does warrant a moment of reflection about the serious nature of the accusations levelled against the Prime Minister.

I am saddened to say that the letter is the indisputable written proof of the severe rot that has characterised Robert Abela's leadership. Judge Mintoff described how he was sidelined for the position of Chief Justice, detailing the Prime Minister's severely flawed judgement, his petty chips on his shoulder, and most seriously his inability to separate the national good from partisan advantage.

The fact that Robert Abela is quoted to be completely prejudiced against any and all names proposed by the Opposition, just because he feels that he would be seen as giving up any sort of political territory, shows how compromised his line of judgement is.

The accusations made by Judge Mintoff are very serious, we can all agree. Judge Mintoff's decision to break the rules and reach out to you, members of Cabinet is extremely serious in itself, but he decided to do so, for what is right and what is good, no matter what.

Judge Mintoff certainly doesn't need my eulogies. He is a highly respected member of the judiciary, who has proved time and time again his dedication to the rule of law and what is right. Hence, there is no reason to doubt that every last word and comma in his letter are true.

Together with my fellow colleagues from the Opposition we have asked the Prime Minister in Parliament to reply to the extremely serious accusations levelled against him in the letter, however our pleas have remained unanswered.

No answers on whether it's true that he is seeing the post of Chief Justice as a political bargaining chip that he intends to continue using for puerile political advantage.

No answer on whether it's true that he indeed prefers money to the independence of the court.

No answer on whether he did throw his own father under the bus and call his appointment as President of the Republic a mistake.

And finally, no answer as to whether it was true that he did threaten to get a member of staff of the Law Courts fired if they didn't comply to his whims.

His silence is deafening and can only be interpreted as implicit agreement.

Dear members of Cabinet, this is a crucial moment in your political journey. Your leader is facing some of the most serious accusations ever levelled against a sitting Prime Minister. You know, deep down, that the situation is beyond the pale and your decisions now will characterise you for the rest of your lives.

This is the time to stand up to be counted, and honour the oath you have taken to be loyal to Malta, the Constitution and her people.

Darren Carabott is Shadow Minister for Home Affairs, Security and Reforms, and chairman of the Public Accounts Committee