Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has identified boosting law and order as Malta’s next major challenge in a speech this afternoon in which he pledged to fight against the “everything goes” mentality which reigns on the island.

Muscat’s speech came in the wake of an announcement that soldiers will start patrolling the streets of Marsa while more police officers will be stationed to the town as of early next year in an attempt to allay residents’ concerns of rising criminality. After Marsa, the same law and order efforts will be extended to the “criminal hotspots” of Qawra, Bugibba, Hamrun and Birzebbuga – towns all associated with high populations of African immigrants.

However, Muscat stressed security forces will not be engaging in any sort of racial profiling. 

“It is irrelevant to me whether the law-breakers are Maltese or foreigners, but the behaviour of some people in the streets is unacceptable,” he said. “We cannot maintain the status quo in which Marsa residents are scared to leave their homes during the weekend and in which people feel they can get drunk and pass out in public gardens. Such behaviour will no longer be tolerated. Our message is clear – people should be allowed to enjoy themselves as much as they please but they must do so with respect for the people who live amongst them.”

The Prime Minister said plans to boost police and army presence in the streets form part of a wider strategy to combat an “everything goes” mentality, which includes the recently-launched penalty points system for drivers. 

“We had to introduce the points system because the situation on the roads had become intolerable,” he said. “We must abolish this mentality that people can do whatever they please in Malta, and my vision is for the Labour Party to become the movement of law and order.”  

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Tim Diacono

Tim is interested in the rapid evolution of human society and is passionate about justice, human rights and cutting-edge political debates. You can follow him on Instagram or Twitter/X at @timdiacono or reach out to him at [email protected]