The government this morning rejected a discussion on a motion presented by the Opposition Leader calling upon the government to implement the Daphne Caruana Galizia public inquiry recommendations by the end of October.

The request for the discussion on the motion was made by Alex Borg at the start of his address during an urgent parliamentary debate which is being held at the request of the Opposition following the verdict in the Yorgen Fenech trial.

Government whip Naomi Cachia said that the government was not accepting to have the motion discussed, and voted upon. The government had agreed to convene Parliament during its summer break, she said, but was not ready to accept that the motion is discussed and voted upon.

Speaker of the House Carmelo Abela said that the motion will now be placed in the book of motions and its inclusion on the parliament's agenda discussed at a later stage.

The debate on the Yorgen Fenech trial was proposed on Thursday by Opposition Leader Alex Borg, who requested that parliament urgently reconvene to discuss the outcome of the trial. Fenech was acquitted after being charged with conspiracy and complicity in the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Prime Minister Robert Abela opened the debate.

Before the debate started on Friday, Borg had said on his Facebook page that he will be presenting a motion calling upon the government to commit itself to implementing the recommendations made in the Daphne Caruana Galizia public inquiry by the end of October.

In his post, Borg said that five years have passed since the board of three judges published the inquiry's findings, yet the government continues to resist implementing its recommendations in full.

Borg had expressed hope that both sides of the House of Representatives would support the motion, describing it as a matter of national interest.

"The Maltese and Gozitan people expect both sides of Parliament to come together today in the national interest and approve this motion," he said. The government, however, rejected the idea.

The public inquiry into Daphne Caruana Galizia's assassination, published in 2021, concluded that the Maltese State should bear responsibility for creating an atmosphere of impunity that enabled the murder and made a number of recommendations aimed at strengthening the rule of law, governance and the protection of journalists.