Prime Minister Robert Abela said the government has agreed for Parliament to be convened urgently to discuss the aftermath of the Yorgen Fenech trial, but said he hoped the debate will be carried out within certain parameters that will not prejudice any future judicial proceedings.
This extraordinary session is being held on Friday, 4 September, two days following Yorgen Fenech's "not guilty" verdict, in relation to his charges of complicity and criminal association in the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia.
The Prime Minister made this announcement on Thursday afternoon, inside Castille, during a press conference.
The news came less than 24 hours after Fenech was deemed "not guilty" by a jury after eight hours of deliberation, on Day 55 of the trial judging his complicity and conspiracy in the homicide of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
Opposition leader Alex Borg had called for Parliament to convene urgently for a debate, the same evening that Fenech left court a free man. He met the Speaker of the House, Carmelo Abela, hours before PM Abela's Thursday address, to make this formal request.
The Nationalist Party had also organised an impromptu silent protest beginning in front of the Parliament of Malta and ending in front of Castille.
Parliament is currently in the middle of its summer recess, which began this July. Prior to the Prime Minister's announcement, Parliament was scheduled to convene on Monday, 5 October, next month.
Discussing the trial's verdict to open this press conference, the Prime Minister laid the steps ahead following this court decision. Two orders were granted by the case's presiding judge, Edwina Grima, including for the Fenech trial testimony to be sent to the Malta Police Force for it to consider taking action against third parties.
He added that any potential deficiencies in Fenech's criminal proceedings and surrounding investigations may be identified by the police during this pending stage, though did not provide his own personal opinion on it.
The Prime Minister called for public discourse to display prudence and caution as public sentiment has turned for worse following Yorgen Fenech's acquittal, so that any potential legal action that follows is not prejudiced before they can commence. He said that he condemns all forms of contemptuous discourse made.
On this note, the Prime Minister was queried on whether he condemns the past discourse made by his Minister for Home Affairs, Glenn Bedingfield, who had previously referred to Caruana Galizia as a "witch."
Minister Bedingfield was visibly muffling his smiles, beside the Prime Minister, upon hearing this question.
The Prime Minister responded that the tone of this question was "totally opposite" to the tone required in this moment and that it was disrespectful to the Caruana Galizia family.
He added that similar questions, if fielded to Minister Bedingfield, should also be fielded towards PN MP Adrian Delia.
Abela shared that, following the previous evening's verdict, he reached out to Peter Caruana Galizia - Daphne's spouse - and informed him that the Maltese government is at the family's disposition to assist them in this difficult moment.
Abela stated that now is not the time to debate whether Melvin Theuma's presidential pardon should be retained, following Fenech's acquittal, so as not to potentially prejudice the steps ahead.
Prime Minister Abela said that this urgent parliamentary debate grants the government the opportunity to outline the rule of law reforms it has implemented since 2020, to bolster national institutions.
On the subject of these reforms, he was asked whether the government has a timeline at hand for how it will implement the recommendations laid out by the Daphne Caruana Galizia public inquiry, which concluded that the Maltese State must bear responsibility for fostering the culture of impunity, at the highest levels of government, that led to her death.
Here, he cited statements made by the Caruana Galizia family and civil society NGO Repubblika, who have both disagreed with the final verdict, though complimented the judicial process behind this case. He said that his administration has implemented several reforms, such as on the appointment of the police commissioner and the Chief Justice, amongst others.
When pressed to say whether he is satisfied if these reforms have granted journalists peace of mind to proceed with their work, Abela stated that Malta was the first EU country to transpose the EU's anti-SLAPP directive to protect journalists from lawsuits against public participation. International reports, however, have identified "serious gaps and deficiencies" in Malta's anti-SLAPP law, following its introduction, as recently as last year.
Abela reiterated the need for people to continue trusting the country's institutions. Here, he expressed faith in Police Commissioner Angelo Gafà. In this regard, when asked about Matthew Caruana Galizia's comments following Fenech's acquittal, Abela reiterated how even the Caruana Galizia family is respecting national institutions; he noted that Caruana Galizia's remarks referred to the 9-person jury that gave the final verdict, not the judiciary itself.
Responding to journalists' questions, the Prime Minister said that if MPs go into Friday's parliamentary debate with the "partisan and insensitive tone" that he said PN leader Alex Borg is using, then this would go against the national interest as well as this next research and verification phase. Hence, he appealed for MPs to remember to speak responsibly during this extraordinary debate.
Abela said that in the near seven years he has been Prime Minister of Malta, he is proud of the good governance observed by his administration.
"I invite you to mention to me one instance when we had a serious episode of poor governance. I am very proud of the reforms we have introduced," he said, "they serve as a template for how other countries can revolutionise reforms for the rule of law."
PM Abela said that the scheduled Labour Party activity to celebrate the first 100 days of this legislature, this Sunday, will go ahead, though he has called for the tone of this activity to be altered in order to respect the present moment, following this monumental verdict.
Hours prior to this press conference, former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat wrote online that, in his view, in hindsight, the Daphne Caruana Galizia public inquiry should have been conducted after Yorgen Fenech's trial.
Asked about this, Prime Minister Abela refused to comment. Muscat was forced to resign from office following significant the political crisis that emerged in late 2019, after links between Fenech and Muscat's chief of staff, Keith Schembri, came to surface.
When questioned whether Abela's government shall withhold from conducting business with Fenech, out of respect for the Caruana Galizia family, the Prime Minister answered that his company shall be treated like any other business, irrespective of Fenech's position, with exception to the national power station.
He said that rather than speculating, he'd rather have concrete means on which to react to in this regard.
Another matter was that of Daphne Caruana Galizia getting her own monument. The Prime Minister's position said that Caruana Galizia should get her own monument in Bidnija, in the whereabouts of her car bombing.
At the moment, the Great Siege monument, positioned in front of Valletta's Courts of Justice, is being used as a makeshift memorial for the assassinated journalist. Flowers and placards have notoriously been cleaned up on several occasions from the site.
As recently as last October, he had stated that no talks were underway, at the time, for the murdered journalist to be given a dedicated monument. PM Abela had said this in response to PN MP Graziella Attard Previ, who asked him about this through a parliamentary question.