Joseph Muscat: ‘Protest Against Me All You Like But Don’t Protest Against Our Soldiers’
Outgoing Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has urged protestors not to let out their anger t him on soldiers of the Malta Armed Forces.
“Some people are protesting justly while others are protesting unjustly,” Muscat told a rally in Sannat as part of his farewell tour. “I tell them they can protest against me all they like, it’s part of public life, but don’t protest against people who are doing their job, like the soldiers int he Armed Forces. I know full well, as will my successor, what these people do, how man hundreds of lives they’ve saved at night and how many dangers they’ve managed to prevent.”
As Malta slips even deeper into political crisis, #RepublicDay parade is drowned out by boos, jeers, and calls for justice for #DaphneCaruanaGalizia. pic.twitter.com/cY7IKzaVZE
— Ivan Martin (@IvanMartin89) December 13, 2019
On Republic Day last Friday, the AFM’s parade through Republic Street was met by chants and cries of crowds who had gathered to demand justice for the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia. Some people also threw fake bank notes over the soldiers, symbolising the money murder suspect was supposed to pass on to Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri.
A number of soldiers later took to social media to decry this behaviour by protestors as an act of disrespect towards the Armed Forces.
In his speech today, Muscat urged PL supporters to give their unconditional support to Chris Fearne or Robert Abela, no matter who is elected PL leader and Prime Minister next month.
“I’m not saying you should be blind sheep (nagħaġ ta’ Bendu) and do whatever the leader says, but I know both men well and I know that I can grant my unconditional support to whoever wins.”
“I know they have a vision to take us forward, I know they will keep the idea of a movement alive, I know that they will correct mistakes but build on the good. I will stand behind them, a sailor instead of a captain.”
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