[WATCH] Adrian Delia: Justice for Daphne Caruana Galizia and her family has to be done

Adrian Delia: Justice for Daphne Caruana Galizia and her family has to be done

Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia today said that what had happened in our country has shocked and shaken us, in reference to the brutal murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

In his first address to the Nationalist Party's General Council, Delia said that we are living a historical time in our country, and the PN always had the courage to be a beacon of hope when the country called for it, and it could lead the country towards good.

He reiterated that we were not living in a normal country, as he recounted that his daughter worried about his safety when he got into a vehicle, following the car bomb which killed Caruana Galizia.

"Was Raymond Caruana's death for nothing? Did we fight for nothing for these thirty years? Did we go to Tal-Barrani for nothing?" he said, as he told those present that Malta used to be the safest place on Earth.

“Justice for Caruana Galizia and her family has to be done.”

It did not matter that the journalist had criticised him harshly, as “democracy meant that people could speak freely.”

“Nobody should be assassinated for this,” he said to loud applause.

Whoever commissioned the crime had to be found, he emphasised, saying that that those involved wanted to silence Caruana Galizia. 

"We have to stand up to fight evil and corruption," he said impassionately.

There was a difference between the government and those who have taken it over he said, as he asked how the government could do dealings with Azerbaijan, one of the most corrupt countries in the world.

This was being done because members of government had something to gain, he said, and this is what was causing the country's institutions to collapse.

“Who would fight against this, for the people?” he asked, “if not the Nationalist party?” This is why, he said, it is essential that the party remains united.

The Maltese were at their most courageous during the harshest times all throughout history, he said, maintaining that Malta survived and triumphed because it was united.

Malta was at a crossroads, he said, and this required us to identify our flaws and recognise how our society was changing.

The Police Commissioner was a puppet in the government's hands, he added, and the Attorney General had abdicated from his constitutional duties and was also a puppet.

Everything was collapsing while the Prime Minister sold passports in Dubai, he said.

“Was the party successfully delivering its message to the people?” he asked. “The Nationalist Party had to first determine what would be for the good of the country. The party would not defend its own interests, but the country's.”

It was always the PN which created the economic sectors which brought the economy forward, while the Labour Party did not create any at all, according to Delia.

PL knew the price of everything and the value of nothing, he claimed. Values and the right to life had no price, however. The Nationalist Party had no price he said as the audience cheered, and although people might say the party had financial difficulties, it would never be bought.

"The party would always be there for the country when the people called on to it."

"The government says it is a government which listens," he said, "but who is it listening to? To the Opposition, to civil sociey, to the women who camped outside Castille?".

"We will not be silent because we are called negative, negative are those who do wrong, not those who criticise," he stated in his concluding remarks. "The Nationalist Party will be, more than ever before, the most relevant party in our country."

"To all those who think I will leave: I am going to stay, not only because I was elected by the largest number of votes, but because it is my duty to remain here [as leader]."