Joseph Muscat Wants To Start Constitutional Reform ‘As Soon As Possible’
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has stated he hopes constitutional reform may happen within months, and has reiterated his full faith in the Police Commissioner and Attorney General. He stated that in Malta we have the “rule of law” we need to follow and cannot just “remove officials like this”.
In comments with the Times of Malta, Joseph Muscat discussed the massive demonstration on Sunday, his backing of the Police Commissioner, and his upcoming plans to amend the constitution.
Referring to the massive demonstration that ended with hundreds of people outside the police depot in Floriana, hurling tomatoes and pastizzi at a large image of Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar, Muscat said that “I saw a situation where the main call was a call for justice, both from those who attended Sunday’s demonstration as well as those who didn’t, like myself.”
He continued by saying that “I don’t think democracy is shouting, booing, and clapping,” and referred to the Police Commissioner specifically when he said “we need to judge someone not on how he is portrayed in a press conference or in a picture, but by his behaviour.”
Calls for the resignation of the Police Commissioner and the Attorney General have mounted over the last week, culminating in the hanging of his face on the police depot’s gates in Floriana.
Muscat stated that he had full faith in the Police Commissioner, and instead said that a new Constitution would change the way the people in these roles are appointed.
He said that he hopes to work with the Opposition on the Constitutional Convention to change parts of the Constitution in the coming months, seemingly as a mollifier to those calling for resignations.
When asked if he believed that Malta was a “mafia state”, he replied saying “absolutely not true, and if we are saying that we are really just hurting ourselves – but whoever is saying it has a the full liberty to do so, and that shows we are not a mafia state.”
Do you think the Police Commissioner should resign? Is Malta a mafia state? Let us know in the comments below.
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