WATCH: PM Must Sack Carmelo Abela Now To Protect The National Interest, Bernard Grech Says
Prime Minister Robert Abela’s “failure to take action” on claims that a minister within his office was involved in the 2010 botched heist on the HSBC headquarters shows he is not in a position to take decisions in the national interest, Opposition leader Bernard Grech said this afternoon.
In a video message shared on Facebook, Grech insisted Abela could not remain indecisive in the face of such serious allegations being made against a sitting and former minister.
This morning it was revealed that Alfred and George Degiorgio – two of the three men charged with carrying out the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia – had written to European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders, and had named both minister Abela and former minister Chris Cardona as having played key roles in major crimes, including the heist.
“Robert Abela cannot continue letting our country’s reputation be repeatedly dragged through the mud,” the Opposition leader said, adding that it was not normal for a sitting minister to be implicated in such a serious crime.
“A shadow has been cast, not only on the minister and the Prime Minister, but the whole country. Robert Abela must take action. The national interest should take precedence over Robert Abela and the Labour Party’s own partisan interests,” Grech said.
He said that as a minimum, the Prime Minister needed to sack Abela until he was cleared by a police investigation. “Our country cannot have a sitting minister with such a shadow hanging over him.”
Grech concluded by accusing the Prime Minister of indecisiveness, which he said confirmed that his hands were tied and how he wasn’t in a position to take the necessary decisions in the face of such “serious and grave accusations”.
“In the moment of truth, Robert Abela remains indecisive,” Grech said.
Do you agree with the Opposition leader? Comment below
READ NEXT: Malta Will Not Recognise Foreign Vaccine Certificates Until EU And Bilateral Agreements Are Launched
