GUEST POST: Never Again. Robert Abela Must Draw A Clear Line Under The Joseph Muscat Era
Responsibility for the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia has been firmly laid at the feet of Joseph Muscat and his circle of corrupt ministers and close advisors.
The current Prime Minister has apologised to Daphne’s family. He has done the right thing. But that is just the first step.
Joseph Muscat continues to try and get sympathy from his supporters by accepting the report ‘with reservations’.
As the person who led the campaign of vilification of the journalist from the very front, and who fostered a culture of impunity for his corrupt friends to thrive, he needs to be held accountable and to be sanctioned.
He should be ashamed of himself, but instead, he casts doubt about the integrity of the board of inquiry.
Prime Minister Abela, Malta looks to you to do the right thing. Disown Muscat and his cronies.
This would start the long healing process which the country must go through. It will never bring Daphne back and she will never pen another article or be with her loved ones. It will however prevent our country from having its name dragged through the mud by its leaders.
The Nationalist Party has clearly offered the government its unconditional support for this to happen, both to implement the suggested reforms as well as to drive the message home. Bernard Grech was clear: Never again.
Now it’s your turn Robert Abela, to show that you draw a line under Joseph Muscat’s era.
Former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat
Offering support does not mean agreeing with inaction. Support demands clear and unequivocal action. The country’s leadership team has been involved in one of the most heinous and political crimes ever committed. They have been called out. Everyone must be held accountable.
Everyone identified by the judges needs to explain his or her lack of action.
Everyone needs to shoulder their responsibility. Simply hiding behind a wall of silence or toeing the party line is not good enough.
While that may bring you plum positions, like at the Central Bank or European institutions, when being put out to their political pastures, this doesn’t fly in peoples’ minds. It is simply not acceptable.
The PN, civil society, the independent media must continue to put pressure on our Prime Minister’s laissez-faire business-as-usual attitude. He must assume his responsibility towards the country and the citizens who voted him into power.
He must take action before it’s too late, starting with the expulsion of Joseph Muscat from the Labour Party and those he defended to making a clean sweep of the die-hard apologists of corruption and criminality.
He only has one chance together with those who really care about our country to put matters right. We wait with bated breath for the Prime Minister to make the right move.
Jerome Caruana Cilia is a Nationalist Party general election candidate
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