Malta’s next police commissioner will be chosen without the input of the Nationalist Party after the Opposition announced it would not take part in the parliamentary committee approving his appointment.

Current Police Force CEO Angelo Gafa was nominated to the role by Cabinet from a two-person shortlist. Around 14 people, including Gafa, had applied for the role.  Gafa will go before the parliamentary committee for Public Appointments for a public grilling. The PN makes up most of the committee, but the ruling Labour Party government still has the majority. 

In a statement, the PN said that Prime Minister Robert Abela continues to be hard-headed with the appointment of the police commissioner, insisting that nothing has changed.  They called on the Prime Minister to seek consensus of the issues.

The PN warned that the new commissioner will be placed on probation for a year, and will simply be removed if he follows up on cases of corruption and other abuses. 

Angelo Gafà is the current CEO of the Malta police force, the island’s first-ever.

He has previously worked as an inspector, having been involved in the investigation into former EU commissioner John Dalli, and has previous experience working with Malta’s Security Forces and the Armed Forces of Malta.

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